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February 24, 2023

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The Creemore

ECHO

Friday, February 24, 2023 Vol. 23 No. 08 www.creemore.com

INSIDE

With the Market changes I am sure you have questions...

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Coyotes claw to playoffs in second season PAGE 7

News and views in and around Creemore

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Humane Society feels urgent need for new facility

Staff photo: Trina Berlo

Toronto drag queen Katinka Kature accepts a tip from Ken Wilson at the "Winter is a Drag" show in Creemore on Feb. 18, presented by Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society as a fundraiser for the upcoming Festival of the Arts. She was a headliner at the Feb. 18 show held at the Legion in a performance hosted by Enya Dreams and featuring Wynonna Juggs and drag king TroyBoy Parks.

Health plan will have local impact: MPP by Trina Berlo The province released its plan for healthcare reform earlier this month, which Simcoe-Grey MPP Brian Saunderson says will have an impact on the riding by helping to free up family doctors, divert non-emergency care away from hospital emergency rooms, and work through the backlog of schedules surgeries. The release of the plan, Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, is keeping with the Ford government’s priority to reform the healthcare system, said Saunderson. “It’s a system that was under stress before the pandemic, and certainly, the

pandemic has taken its toll as well,” he said. Saunderson said the change that will have the biggest impact locally is with regard to pharmacists. As of January, pharmacists are able to prescribe medications for 13 common ailments as part of a strategy to free up hospital staff and give family doctors more time for appointments with patients who need more specialized care for more serious concerns. He said in January, pharmacists wrote 40,000 prescriptions in Ontario. As the program progresses, Saunderson said it is taking pressure off the doctors and emergency rooms.

“It’s relieving that pressure and it’s getting people the prescriptions they need much faster,” said Saunderson. It is having a big impact for all municipalities but particularly in rural Ontario. As we expand the family health teams there are still some areas where there are gaps.” He said all municipalities in Simcoe Grey riding have been identified as high physician need and health teams in Collingwood and Alliston have been given the green light to recruit more physicians so they can expand, with the goal of ensuring each residents has access to a local family doctor. (See “Plan” on page 3)

The Georgian Triangle Humane Society (GTHS) is currently in the midst of a $14.8 million fundraising campaign for its new Regional Centre for Pets and People, with $3.5 million having been raised to date, and a property been purchased on Sanford Fleming Drive in Collingwood. Over recent months, the number of stray dogs coming into the Animal Centre is growing beyond the volume that is sustainable in the current facility. The existing facility on Tenth Line was built in 2007 and is 6,000 square feet. It was designed for about 500 animals. Last year alone, GTHS took in 1,400 homeless animals and facilitated upwards of 1,200 adoptions. Simultaneously, pet owners are struggling to keep up with raising costs and housing insecurity. Demands for accessibly priced vaccinations, spay/neuter surgeries and emergency medical support are at an all-time high. The Humane Society offers programs and services to help keep pets with their families during emergencies and crisis, supporting more than 3,000 pets to stay out of the shelter system in 2022. Since the launch of the Pet Pantry Service in 2020, over 1,500 meals have been delivered, a 105 per cent increase being observed in 2022 over 2021. GTHS officials say they cannot continue to sustain operations in the current facility. Cats and dogs are recovering from surgical care in hallways, dogs are in crates in the garage, private conversations with clients in distress occur in public lobbies. Their 13 dog kennels are starting to deteriorate and parking is dangerous for both clients and team members. GTHS is working toward opening the doors of the new Animal Centre facility in 2025. Visit www.gths.ca, or contact hopetohome@gths.ca.

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