By Russell Nicholls
Here are a few points I’d like you all to consider!
Firstly: I am a senior, senior and I just spent a four-day stint in our Huntsville Hospital. Not having been hospitalized for many years, I must admit that there was a certain degree of reluctance (afraid of the unknown!), but that feeling diminished once I was settled in. The front-end staff, i.e. nurses, their assistants and all the technicians, treated me like royalty.
The point I am making here is… these front-line workers are true professionals. They are the reputation builders for our healthcare system here in the Huntsville Hospital.
While doing my time, I did make one very important observation. The nursing staff are grossly over-worked and underpaid. I’m thinking, how can this dilemma be overcome, without spending money that the Board doesn’t have? My obvious answer was, as the saying goes, ‘level the playing field’. By that I mean reduce the salary plus bonus of the CAO and executive team by 18 per cent and transfer that amount to a fund that would be dispersed between each of our front-line workers. They are the ones who truly deserve the extra pay. Huntsville is blessed with a very fine healthcare system!
Apparently, the Hospital Board (MAHC) is totally oblivious to the fact that the Huntsville area is being inundated by Torontonians who are moving here by the droves and occupying our many new subdivisions. We need more space not less! Also … looking forward, sooner than later, there will be a need to add a wing or more to our present facility. Well, Huntsville has sufficient property adjacent to our present hospital to fulfill that need.
There seems to be a mind-set in Muskoka that it wants to be governed by the PC Blue banner. As long as there are three levels of government in Ontario, Mr. Miller, a very fine gentleman, will find he’s got some competition. The voters from South River, Sundridge, Burk’s Falls, Emsdale, Kearney, Novar, Algonquin Park and all its tourists, Dwight, Dorset, Lake of Bays and its cottagers, Baysville, Rosseau and of course all of Huntsville, represent a lot of ballots!
And …. one final thing, with our daily news media “Doppler” (not a newspaper), you’ll even have the opportunity to watch the colour in Muskoka change from blue to red, or green or whatever!
Doesn’t that sound exciting ??
Hands off our Hospital!!
Prior to his involvement with the Portage Flyer, Russ Nicholls was a telegraph operator for the New York Central Railway in Southern Ontario. Following that, he operated his own General Insurance brokerage for several years here Huntsville. With the assistance of many very generous volunteers he spent the next 24 years getting the little Portage Flyer back into operation again in Huntsville. Russ and his wife sold their company and retired in 1992.
BY DOPPLER SUBMITTED ON FEBRUARY 17, 2018COMMENTARY