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WHEELCHAIR USERS PAY MORE FOR TAXIS Stakeholders call on government to subsidize accessible transportation BY L.H. TIFFANY HSIEH
thsieh@yrmg.com
Would you pay $30 or more for a taxi ride of about three kilometres? Tyler Barker did, but he had no choice. The 26-year-old Aurora resident has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Due to his condition, taxi cabs are overcharging him, said Mr. Barker, who is on the town’s accessibility advisory committee. “I’ve been told it’s an industry standard,” he said. Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, it’s illegal for a conventional transportation service provider to charge a higher fare to a person with a disability. However, service providers argue accessible vehicles aren’t conventional. “That’s not a taxi. It’s not the same service,” Royal Taxi general manager Spiros Bastas said. Accessible transportation is a market captured locally by York Region Transit’s Mobility Plus, he said. “There’s absolutely no demand,” he added. However, parties on all sides of the debate agree there needs to be government funding to subsidize extra costs associated with transporting people with special needs. “It’s a societal issue,” Mr. Bastas said. See MOBILITY, page A7.
STAFF PHOTO/MIKE BARRETT
Aurora’s Tyler Barker says taxi companies are overcharging clients in wheelchairs.
Transit enforcement incidents up BY JOE FANTAUZZI
jfantauzzi@yrmg.com
Assaults reported to York Region Transit increased last year. But the increase — there were 23 reported last year, compared to 13 in 2010 — came on the heels of appeals for more reporting of incidents on the region’s buses and is not reflective of an increasingly dangerous transit system, York Region Transit enforcement and security manager Angelo Apfelbaum said. Overall, the number of inci-
dents to which York Region Transit enforcement and security responded — which range from assault and damage to property to disputes over fares — rose to 1,952 last year from 1,636 in 2010, according to a report presented to the York Region Police Services Board. Incidents investigated by YRT have increased every year during the past five years, a York Region
See TRANSIT, page A9.
BY THE NUMBERS Occurrences investigated by York Region Transit enforcement: 2011: 1,952 2010: 1,636 2009: 974 2008: 350 — source: York Region Transit enforcement annual reports, 2009 to 2011
STAFF PHOTO/MIKE BARRETT
Incidents reported to York Region Transit and Viva enforcement have increased steadily since 2008.
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Service makes doctors more accessible BY L.H. TIFFANY HSIEH
thsieh@yrmg.com
Central Local Health Integration Network hired five new telemedicine nurses to provide you easier access to physician specialists. The new nurses are stationed in Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Markham Stouffville Hospital and the Canadian Mental Health Association — York Region and Toronto branches. The new hires are part of the expanded care delivery available at more than 68 sites across Central LHIN. Telemedicine is a form of telehealth, with live, two-way videoconferencing at the hospital sites, Markham Stouffville Hospital clinical telemedicine professional practice leader Ann Marie Havery said. The Skype-like service is part of the Ontario Telemedicine Network and is equipped with the latest technology for virtual patient consultations, assessments, training and knowledge exchange, including a hand-held camera that can zoom in on a patient’s wound, Ms Havery said. “It can save time, costs and
travel and it reduces the stress of patients,” she added. Ms Havery’s first telemedicine patient at Markham Stouffville Hospital was an elderly woman who needed to see a physician specialist in downtown Toronto, but had no reasonable means of transportation. That was the case for Sutton resident Norm Charles, who has been using telemedicine for some time. Mr. Charles goes to Southlake about once a month and was there last to see his neuropsychiatrist in Toronto for severe migraines. “It saves me four hours and $50 a (trip),” Mr. Charles said of the service. “It’s quite handy for me.” It’s also easier to talk to his doctors via video, Mr. Charles said, noting it’s less intimidating. To provide telemedicine access for resident clinical appointments, specialist care and staff education, Southlake has partnered with six Central LHIN long-term care homes: Aurora Resthaven, Bradford Valley, Cedarvale Lodge, Good Samaritan Nursing Home, King City Lodge Nursing Home, River Glen Haven Nursing Home and Southlake Village. Eight of the 12 long-term care homes in the catchment area of Southlake and Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston are equipped for telemedicine service.
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LHIN hires more telemedicine nurses