SERVING MAPLETON AND MINTO
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COMMUNITY NEWS VOLUME 52 ISSUE 19
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Kindness is focus of Empowerment Day By Jaime Myslik
Tree time - Wellington County’s Green Legacy Program and Trees For Mapleton hosted the annual township tree pick-up day on May 4 at the Mapleton public works garage. The trees were available at no cost to residents, however the township accepted donations to the local food bank. Residents could order trees in advance from a list of types available this year, or choose from surplus trees in a first come, first served basis on the day of the event. Lucy Walton, left, and her sister Ruby pick up their trees with help from Mayor Gregg Davidson and township summer student worker Carla Ashbourn. Additional photos on page 5. Photo by Jennifer Goertzen
GUELPH - “You have a voice. Use it.” That’s the message 18-year-old Trisha Prabhu left with 5,000 Grade 5 to 8 students at this year’s Empowerment Day on May 2. The annual Upper Grand District School Board event took place at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph. This year’s theme was “I can. I will. Watch me.” Prabhu, inventor and CEO of ReThink, was one of the inspirational speakers for the day, joining Olympian Hayley Wickenheiser, Paralympian Patrick Anderson and global adventurer Leon Logothetis. The speakers focused on the importance of kindness and thinking of others. Empowerment day was created in 2015 by Drayton
Heights Public School students. The school’s student council continues to run the event. Grade 8 Drayton Heights students Clare Kashin and Olivia Bloemberg were MCs for the day. “It’s great to be involved because you get to impact the lives of so many people,” Bloemberg said. “Being here ... makes you think that you’re doing something bigger than just yourself, so it’s empowering not just to the people watching, but to us,too,” Kashin said. Trisha Prabhu Prabhu is a Harvard University student who grew up in Chicago. “I am a former victim of cyberbullying ... I grew up in a town that was predominantly Caucasian,” she said. “So being one of the few SEE EMPOWERMENT » 3
Wellington hospital corporations ponder amalgamation in response to provincial health care system reforms By Patrick Raftis WELLINGTON COUNTY – The county’s two hospital corporations are considering turning their alliance into a full-scale amalgamation. The boards of directors for Groves Memorial Community Hospital (GMCH) and North Wellington Health Care (NWHC) recently met to complete a governance review of the Wellington Health Care Alliance. The review is being driven by the Progressive Conservative government’s pending Ontario health system reforms. A press release states the boards have directed GMCH/
NWHC president and CEO Steven Street and hospital chiefs of staff, to prepare an impact analysis of a potential voluntary integration of the hospital corporations. “The Ontario government is implementing major health care reform changes which will impact all Ontario hospitals and health care partners – by integrating we feel we will have a stronger voice to advocate for our rural health care services,” stated GMCH board chair Ian Hornsby. In a telephone interview, Street said the boards are reacting to current government direction by studying their situation, but haven’t yet made any decisions.
“They haven’t really jumped to any conclusions, but in light of everything that’s going on with government reform, we’ve heard the government say they want to break down silos, they’ve messaged that through … public health and EMS, consolidating them into fewer organizations across the province,” Street said. “So this is really, let’s do our due diligence early, so we’re not rushed, and really get a sense of what is in the best interests of our residents and our community and is there any value in them coming together in a more formal way.” NWHC board chair
Brian McMahon stated the Groves board and NWHC, which includes hospitals in Palmerston and Mount Forest, “have a long history of working together and we share a common vision, mission, values and strategic plan.” McMahon added, “Louise Marshall Hospital and Palmerston and District Hospital formed an alliance relationship in 1996 and then fully amalgamated in 2001 to become NWHC. We then partnered with GMCH in 2005 to create the Wellington Health Care Alliance.” Hornsby said the alliance has allowed the hospitals to “provide a broader range
of services, improve health care for our patients, attract specialist support, maximize resources and keep care close to home. He added, “We would like to better understand what the benefits are to patients if we were to amalgamate and if it would add value or end up costing the system more.” Street explained the impact analysis will include, “at minimum, a community engagement strategy, risk analysis, communication plan, financial impact, and a draft implementation plan,” which will be presented to the NWHC/GMCH boards in the fall. “We have already met
with staff and physicians to begin the discussions,” said Street. “At the centre of all the discussions will be how can we together achieve our mission to advance exceptional care and wellness for our patients?” Street told the Community News that unlike a 2015 review that resulted in the boards integrating governance models (including creation of a joint-board with decision-making powers) but stopped short of amalgamation, this study isn’t being mandated from above. In August of 2015, the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network SEE HOSPITAL » 2
Construction company buys five acres of industrial land in Mapleton MAPLETON - Five acres in phase two of the Drayton Industrial Park have been sold to Pro-Mar, a construction company based in Salem. The township announced the sale on May 1. Pro-Mar promises to build a 12,000 square-foot facility in the park.
The purchase follows closely on the heels of the sale of 10 acres to Arjune Engineering and Manufacturing Inc. (AEM) last month. Already MTX Fruit Ripening Systems and AEM have purchased land in the second phase of the industrial park. “We have attracted three big companies in the last number of
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months. This is great for our community and especially for jobs and for the overall wellness of our community - of our growth,” Mayor Gregg Davidson told the Community News. Pro-Mar owner Wayne Martin decided to relocate the company due to the space the Drayton Industrial Park offers, which will facilitate a large building, as well as its prox-
imity to the “Tri-Cities,” explained Davidson. “We are in a strategic location. We are within 30 minutes of a major centre like Kitchener and Guelph so they have easy access to get their products out and to have their products - what they need - brought in,” he said. Davidson also attributed the sale to council’s decision in March to
WEEKLY WAG
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By Aryn Strickland
“I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” - Stephen Leacock
BILL’S
lower the price per acre in the park from $40,000 to $33,900 plus HST. At the time council also voted to alter development charge requirements within the township, allowing industries to pay in instalments over a five-year period. Both changes made the industrial park very attractive to Pro-Mar, Davidson said. SEE COMPANY » 4
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