Red Deer Advocate, March 21, 2013

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Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate

GHOSTS OF THE FOREST Great Gray Owls B1

CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2013

Lacombe surges into Top 10 RED DEER SLIPS TO 38TH IN ANNUAL RANKING OF THE 200 BEST COMMUNITIES TO LIVE IN BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF

MONEYSENSE RANKING

Move over Red Deer — Lacombe is now one of Canada’s top 10 best places to live. At least according to MoneySense magazine, which publishes the annual ranking of 200 communities across the nation. Lacombe ranks eighth on this year’s list, one better than Red Deer achieved in 2012. This year Red Deer slipped to 38th, while Lacombe jumped 18 spots.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say we were really excited,” said Guy Lapointe, Lacombe’s community and economic development manager. The recognition won’t hurt when trying to promote the community, he admits. “We’ve already had a number of people commenting on social media, on Twitter, on Facebook,” he said. “It certainly makes my job easier.” Lapointe said MoneySense backs up its rankings

Bethany care centres cutting staff

with solid methodology. “I think it’s a good representation of how a community functions.” In its explanation of the ranking system, MoneySense says it puts significant weight on incomes and employment. “After all, most people’s experience in a city is more positive when they have a high-paying job — and the ability to get a new one if they so choose,” says information posted on MoneySense’s website www.moneysense.ca

Please see RANKING on Page A2

THE ART OF SELF-DEFENCE

CHANGE MEANS LOSS OF ABOUT 53 FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT POSITIONS BY LAURA TESTER ADVOCATE STAFF Resident care is expected to suffer when staffing cuts are made at Bethany Care Society centres in Red Deer and Sylvan Lake. Bethany Care Society announced on Wednesday that its operations, including six care centres in Central and Southern Alberta, would had to align staffing with the new Alberta Health Services funding model for long-term care. The change means the loss of about 53 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions. Since a high percentage of these positions are part-time, the actual number of employees affected will be greater. The number of reductions will vary from site to site. Bethany Care Society officials were unavailable for comment late Wednesday afternoon. Brenda Corney, who sits on the provincial board for Friends of Medicare and is the chair of the Red Deer chapter, questioned who will be responsible for a lack of care because there’s not enough staff. “Why is it that the most vulnerable people are the ones affected by government cuts?” said Corney. Nursing homes shouldn’t receive money so they can make a profit, but the government should be covering the cost of care, she added.

Please see BETHANY on Page A2

Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff

Taking part in a self-defence class, Tayler Schaffner puts the boots to her physical education teacher Kathy Lalor on Wednesday. Former RCMP member Ralph Cervi lead the Grade 10 class teaching the basics of self-defence including how to hit, punch, kick, and how to do more damage with hits from the knees and elbows.

Telehealth bringing patients, doctors together BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Central Albertans are saving time, money and worry as more use Alberta Health Services videoconferencing for medical appointments. Red Deer residents Kimberly Bigoraj and her son Brayden, 5, started using Telehealth last November when a severe snowstorm prevented them from going to Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. The secure system allows patients to hear, see and speak with their health-care providers without having to travel. “They called and informed us they weren’t going

PLEASE RECYCLE

to be able to make their appointment. I had concerns about that lack of follow-up. I was quite worried about how the incision was going to heal from Brayden’s surgery,” said Dr. Jeff Pugh, a Stollery neurosurgeon who was linked to Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre through Telehealth on Wednesday. Brayden had an arteriovenous malformation, a mass of abnormal blood vessels as large as a cellphone behind his ear. Non-surgical methods had proven ineffective in removing the mass so in October, Pugh performed surgery. Followup was possible by using one of 10 Telehealth sites equipped with high definition cameras at the Red Deer hospital. “I was even able to bring in one our plastic sur-

WEATHER

INDEX

Snow. High -5. Low -11.

Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5,C6 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5,A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D4 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6

FORECAST ON A2

geons at Stollery to take a look at the wound via Telehealth. Together we came up with a treatment plan and we sent a prescription down to Red Deer hospital and Brayden went over to the outpatient clinic and was able to further his treatment locally in Red Deer,” Pugh said. Since then most of Brayden’s follow-up appointments have been through Telehealth. “It’s only a few minutes. Brayden is comfortable with it. We’re not travelling. And Dr. Pugh seems to be getting what he needs and we’ve been getting what we need,” Brayden’s mom said.

Please see TELEHEALTH on Page A2

CANADA

SPORTS

BANNING ASSISTED SUICIDE AKIN TO ‘TORTURE’

BARTOSAK AN ALL-STAR

Forcing sick patients to suffer through painful, agonizing deaths with the ability to ask a doctor to help them end their lives is akin to ‘torture,’ a lawyer said Wednesday. A5

How important has Patrik Bartosak been to the Red Deer Rebels this season? Just ask opposing coaches and general managers, who selected the Rebels standout stopper as the 2012-13 Eastern Conference netminder of the year and a first-team all-star. B4

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HERBERT & COMPANY CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANT

Phone 403.342.1101 Fax 403.342.7844 #1, 5579 - 47 Street, Red Deer, AB T4N 1S1 VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.herbertandco-cga.ca

42128C6-D9

Martin Herbert FCGA


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