MPP Laurie Scott has endorsed HHHS’ decision to consolidate services at Haliburton hospital.

The Highlander asked Scott about a $3 million HHHS deficit, created in part by delayed transfer payments; the Ford government not allowing nurses’ salaries to increase by more than one per cent a year over three years; and it allowing agency nursing in the province.

Scott said when it comes to transfer payments, the process has not changed. She said the province has tried to make it faster but it is similar with all transfers from government to agencies. “It takes a little bit to do the catch up.”

She further said the Ontario government is in the midst of negotiations with Ontario nurses “so, that’s evolving.”

As to agency nursing, she did not directly answer the question.

Rather, she said, “I think what they did in Haliburton was look at the fact of how many nurses and doctors they have and the reality of ‘we’re more stable in one site, that we can provide more nursing care. There’s more nurses if we pool it together.’ I think you’ll see that we’ll have a stronger emerge and we’re going to have to develop Haliburton a little bit more.”

She mentioned the ask for a CT scanner is now before the Ministry of Health.

Scott said there is a global staffing crisis and the province is taking action, such as investments to expand family health teams, increased hospital beds, more than 12,000 nurses being registered this year alone, and last fall more than 109,000 students entering the nursing field, but that it will take time.

“You can’t, when you’re dealing with this, say ‘stop agencies’,” she said. “Other areas have different needs. Lindsay doesn’t necessarily use agency but they have more flexibility. They have more staff to pull from.”

Pressed by The Highlander that if they paid public sector nurses more, they might not need agency nurses, Scott said, “there’s two emergency rooms in Haliburton County. And I know the population fluctuates in the summer time. But that’s lots of access to emergencies.”

She was further adamant HHHS’ decision was not about funding.

“The hospital will stabilize because they’ll be able to hire more. There’s lots of positive things on the horizon.”

Scott added with a “great” community paramedicine program and pharmacists treating more common health care conditions, it deflects the need for more emergency department visits. She is also looking forward to hearing HHHS’ ideas for the Minden site once the emergency department closes.

Agency nursing has been around for years, but boomed during COVID. Liberal MPP Adil Shamji is pushing for a Private Members Bill, the Temporary Nursing Agency Licensing and Regulation Act, to include mandatory licensing for temporary nursing agencies, a ban on “unconscionable pricing” and restrictions on how they can recruit.

During Question Period at Queen’s Park April 26, health minister Sylvia Jones was asked about the Minden ER closure. She said it was a hospital board decision “in the best interests of the community.” She added it was independent of ministry decision-making.

Minden ED slated for closure

The Minden emergency department is closing, with all emergency and in-patient services to be consolidated at Haliburton hospital, effective June 1.

Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) made the announcement April 20, saying Minden and the surrounding area will be able to access emergency services at the Haliburton site, and staff working in the Minden emergency department will be transferred to the Haliburton emergency department.

Chair of the HHHS board of directors, David O’Brien, said, “this was an evidence-based decision, which was made in the best interest of our community. Today is an important day for HHHS, because it means that we will continue to be able to provide the high-quality health services that Haliburton County residents and visitors count on.”

President and CEO, Carolyn Plummer, added the move, “is really related to our health human resource crisis.” She said the shortage of nursing and medical staff has meant the organization has needed to take “extraordinary” measures to keep both emergency departments operating, “which has required significant personal and professional sacrifices from staff.

“By bringing together HHHS’ emergency services at one site, there will be more staff available to help create a more stable and effective staffing situation overall.”

She said there would be no job losses and the service will still need to recruit approximately five to six full-time equivalent nurses.

The service has had to rely on agency nurses, which has contributed to an approximate $3 million deficit as of the last board meeting. Plummer said the decision isn’t about money but, “it will certainly reduce the need for agency nurses and the associated cost, but this is really about making sure that we’re making the best use of the resources we have.”

Acting chief of staff, Dr. Norm Bottum said consolidations are not new. They have occurred in Peterborough, Cobourg and Port Hope, and led to those consolidated sites being able to expand their services, he said.

“There’s been a limit to maintaining services at both sites,” he added of Minden and Haliburton. “As medical staff, I’ve sat in on many strategic plans where we thought it would be ideal to be under one site. There’s lots of efficiencies.”

He added while the board has “gone above and beyond” to keep both Minden and Haliburton emergency departments operating, “the writings’ been on the wall.” He referenced the check-stop-go put in place in case of temporary emergency room closures and, “things have gotten worse over the last year rather than better. It’s something we anticipated would happen a lot sooner.”

Difficult for Minden community

Plummer acknowledged, “we know this is going to be a very difficult message for the Minden community. We’re very cognizant of that.

“This was a very tough decision in that regard. It certainly wasn’t made lightly. We’ve been talking about this and looking at options for quite some time. This is the decision that we needed to make in order to continue to provide health services in the County and make sure that everyone in the County has access to those services, and to give us the opportunity to build a really robust emergency department and hospital service. [This will] give us the opportunity to grow and evolve in the future to meet the growing needs of our community.”

Asked about the fact Minden has more ER visits than Haliburton, Plummer said they needed to make sure their consolidated emergency department was attached to in-patient beds. There are 15 in Haliburton. Shifting to Minden would have required ministry approval, delays, and costly renovations, she added. The Haliburton site will require a few minor alterations.

Plummer said Haliburton is also “a little more central in the County as well from an EMS response perspective and travel distance perspective.”

As for the future of the Minden site, Plummer said, “we’re going to look at lots of different opportunities for that site and what might help better meet the needs of the community.”

Dr. Bottum added, “in the long run, for the benefit of the organization, consolidating to one site and being able to optimize those services is going to be a bonus for the County for years to come. Instead of splitting money between two sites, which was politically nice, but from a medical standpoint, we’ve supported the idea of a single emergency department for 30 years.”

He also said it made sense to have a consolidated site to better recruit personnel and a primary emergency site to bolster the application for a CT scanner.

Plummer said since they have been planning for near closures for months, a lot of the legwork has been done for the transition. However, she said there would be adjustments for staffing, space, patient flow, equipment and parking, to name a few.

They are also rolling out a communications strategy that will include signage at Minden hospital and on highways, and staff on-site in Minden to redirect patients when needed.

“This decision is about maintaining the safety of our patients, the sustainability of our services, and the care our patients receive, and the well-being of our staff teams,” Plummer said.

Patrick Porzuczek told a packed house at the Minden Community Centre April 25 he’d never organized anything like the ‘Save Minden Ontario Emergency Room’ Facebook group.

However, he said since moving to the town seven years ago, he’d found a community and extended family. And that included the Minden emergency room after having twice had his abnormal heart beat return to a normal rhythm.

“My wife got in the car with our three kids and drove me to the ER while I was in an arrhythmia so I could be shocked. There’s many people in this room that know of, or have had, emergency services at the Minden ER. There’s many heart attack patients, cancer patients, patients that had an accident at home that used these vital services and saved our lives,” he said. He added his six-year-old daughter also received excellent care when she had a recent heart issue.

He urged the crowd, that numbered in the hundreds, to look around the room and asked, “if we didn’t have that emergency department in Minden, would that person sitting beside you be here today?”

The community came together to share stories of their life-saving interactions with Minden emerge, sign a petition, donate money, collect signs, and begin organizing next steps in their fight to keep the Minden ER open.

I want to create awareness. I want to get these signs on lawns. I want to get the conversation started. I want all of you to go out there and write your letters to [HHHS CEO and president] Carolyn Plummer,”

Organizers vow to fight HHHS closure decision

Porzuczek said. “Carolyn, we need you to come to Minden, face us face-to-face, tell us your plan. Tell us what you’re doing and why and how you’re going to handle it. We want to know how you made this decision, on all our behalf, without consulting any one of us.”

He added they’d like answers as to anticipated wait times at Haliburton emerge, for 911, or if there is a major car accident on Hwy. 35, “how they will get immediate care having to drive 25 minutes or more to Minden?”

He said Plummer and the hospital board had made a decision, “that is going to affect us here in Minden for the rest of our lives. We cannot let this hospital close. Let’s fix it. Not close it.”

He vowed his group would do whatever it takes to save the Minden ER. Porzuczek plans to drive the petitions to Queen’s Park this week.

Mayor Bob Carter said they “knew the decision was wrong” and he’s concerned about the timing, with the closure coming June 1, at the beginning of a busy County summer. He added it’s one of the oldest populations in Ontario.

“As you get older, you need those hospital services, so this decision in inexplicable.”

He said they had to continue the momentum in the hopes of pausing the decision. He noted Plummer and board chair David O’Brien will be addressing Minden council today (April 27).

Members of the crowd talked about the impact of COVID vaccine mandates on health care workers leaving their professions, the province mismanaging health care and allowing agency nurses and a move to privatization, while others said Haliburton’s ER will be greatly impacted and that Minden serves people living south of the town.

Richard Bradley said Minden has successfully fought daycare and Service Ontario planned closures.

“It sounds like a Moses thing here. We have done floods…we have survived all of those things …”

Former HHHS health care worker Christina Allore advised the group as to what to focus on.

“We are entitled as Canadians to accessible and safe care. Those are the two key points that you have to press because moving up to there [Haliburton] is not accessible and it is not safe.”

Go to Save Minden Ontario Emergency Room on Facebook for more information on the group.

Canadian roots powerhouse duo, The Small Glories, are headed to Haliburton County Saturday night, as the folk society presents Cara Luft and J.D. Edwards for the first time ever in the Highlands.

Hailing from Winnipeg, Luft told The Highlander this week, she and Edwards are musical partners only. “It’s like singing with a sibling, our voices work really well together. And we’re troubadours. We love to go from town to town and tell stories from other places we’ve been and share things with new audiences. It’s not just about the music for us. It’s about the whole thing.”

Like most musicians, the Small Glories did not tour for a couple of years due to the pandemic. However, they’ve had make up dates from cancelled shows that have recently seen them primarily in the United States.

In talking to their agent, Luft said, “we haven’t played Ontario very much. Because of the pandemic, the last time we were in Ontario was in 2019, so let’s look at spring of 2023.” The Haliburton County Folk Society, meanwhile, was looking to book in a spring show.

“So, our agent put the call out as we had a small timeframe that we could come to the province. And the Halliburton County Folk Society was one of the organizations and one of the communities that really wanted us to come.”

Luft added despite having played in larger towns and cities and in front of big crowds, they love playing for people, “no matter where they are, and no matter the audience size. We just want people to come who want to be there. It’s great to play for a full house but even when it’s not a full house, the people who are there, they get a unique experience.”

The Small Glories said fans can expect a lot of original material, but also some traditionals and covers.

“We’re really big believers in when you find a great song, regardless of who wrote it, it needs to be shared. So, we do a lot of interpretation that way. But we really love to engage with the audience. We love telling stories. We get people laughing, sometimes we get them crying, sometimes they get up and dance. So, it’s definitely really special.

“Every concert is unique and different and always very special. So, I think people will expect great music, a great respite and relief from whatever woes they may be experiencing, and just a really great time with community.”

The show is at 7:30 p.m. at the Haliburton Legion with opener Albert Saxby. Ticket information can be found at haliburtonfolk. com.

The Friends of the Rail Trail (FoRT) is inviting County residents to attend an evening of socializing and education through the third iteration of its ‘Spokes and Species’ series.

Taking place in the clubroom at the Haliburton Legion April 26, the event will feature two guest speakers broaching subjects around cycling and the environment. Organizer Pamela Marsales said it will be a fun-filled evening jam-packed with information.

“We imagine there are lots of people out in the hinterlands in Haliburton County, cottagers and new residents who are interested in cycling, nature, rail trails or all of the above. This is a great opportunity for them to come out, meet new people and have a social evening,” she said.

Cara Steele, an ecologist at Abbey Gardens, will speak about the ecological restoration that has been ongoing at the site, touching on livable green spaces and habitat biodiversity.

The main presenter is Brendan Matheson, a coordinator with Tourism Simcoe County (TSC). Marsales said he’ll be talking about a new cycling tourism strategy he’s working on for TSC, with the key feature being a 160-kilometre rail trail loop connecting Barrie, Midland and Orillia with Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching.

“That would be of interest to many people here… the concept of cycling tourism is something that’s yet to be fully imagined and realized in Haliburton County,” Marsales said. “We’re excited to think about the possibilities. Brendan has helped create a loop trail that has become a real destination and economic driver for Simcoe County.”

Marsales said while the County has its own 35-kilometre rail trail, it’s often overlooked in favour of what she called better systems elsewhere.

She’s eager to see work continue on a proposed Toronto Algonquin Greenway (TAG) initiative that would connect the Highlands to Algonquin Park and the GTA. The 200-kilometre route would incorporate five separate existing trail systems and promote hiking, cycling and paddling.

“All the groundwork has been laid for this TAG concept to be developed as a sustainable, multi-community tourism product, but there’s still work to be done,” Marsales said, noting the project was put on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic. “I think that would really help to direct a lot of people to Haliburton County.”

The ‘Spokes and Species’ event will start at 7 p.m. Admission is by donation, with proceeds supporting FoRT. Attendees are asked to enter the Legion through the side door.

Haliburton County’s district 11 organizers are looking forward to hosting Ontario Senior Games Association (OSGA) 55+ events this summer.

Spokesperson Mary Johnson said April 20 (today) is the last day for planners to receive mailed registrations prior to the games kicking off May 4 and running until June 20.

Johnson added the games are open to men and women who are 55-plus years of age as of Dec. 31, 2023.

The event features cards, including euchre, bid euchre, contract and duplicate bridge as well as cribbage, and sports such as golf, pickleball, shuffleboard, tennis and walking.

Johnson said the games are about being active and getting involved in the community, not necessarily competition.

“Do you have the time to have fun in a competitive, non-threatening setting? Are you seeking opportunities to socialize and meet new friends? Do you feel young and energetic?” she said of the OSGA mission statement.

However, people can qualify to go on to regional games and Ontario 55+ games. There are 36 districts across the province, with more than 9,000 participants and over 500 volunteers. The games were incorporated in 1997 and there are traditionally 18-plus summer and 10-plus winter events. District 11 comprises Muskoka and Haliburton.

This year’s schedule sees bid euchre first up, May 4 at 1 p.m., at the Cardiff Community Centre and then May 8 at 1 p.m. at the Minden Curling Club. The finals will be in Gravenhurst June 9.

Euchre will follow May 15 at 1 p.m. at the Minden Curling Club and June 1 in Cardiff. The finals are June 2 in Gravenhurst.

Cribbage is scheduled for May 18 at 1 p.m. at the Kinmount Legion. The cribbage finals will be played in Kinmount June 15.

Duplicate (9 a.m.) and contract (1 p.m.) bridge will be played June 5 at the Stanhope Community Centre.

Shuffleboarders will hit the courts in Minden June 6 at 9 a.m. The finals are in Gravenhurst June 8.

Golf will again return to the Blairhampton Golf Course, on June 7, with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. Walking then takes centre stage. It is slated for June 8 beginning at 9 a.m. from the docks in Haliburton. Tennis will be next up, at the Haliburton courts, June 13, with an 8:30 a.m. start.

And, finally, the ever-popular pickleball is slated for June 20 at the Haliburton courts.

For more information, contact Mary Johnson at 705-754- 1884.

A new entertainment venue is coming to downtown Haliburton next month.

Partners Anna Lowes, Mark Christiano and Craig Titus have been working through winter to turn their dream of establishing a new musical space in the village into reality. The trio are launching The Music Room, a 150-seat event space inside Castle Antiques on Highland Street, in early May.

“We’ve been talking about this for quite a while now. It’s always been in the back of my mind to bring something new to the downtown scene… after working closely with Anna the past few months, the door opened,” Christiano told The Highlander.

For the past six months, Castle has hosted regular shows on Friday nights – providing an opportunity for local musicians to perform in front of a live crowd. The events, first dubbed ‘Friday Night at the Castle’ and later ‘Tacos and Tunes’, have been wildly successful, Lowes said.

“We ran shows almost every week through winter and it was great – people have had a lot of fun. Now we want to ramp things up,” Lowes said. “Friday nights was kind of the stepping stone, but after seeing how well everything was going, we knew the longterm goal was to have a permanent music venue and do larger concerts here.

“The goal of Castle has always been to be a destination and offer as much variety and things for people to do as possible. I think this is just another way of doing that,” she added.

Renovations are ongoing, with a new stage and sound system being fitted in the antiques side of the store. Christiano said he’s planning to incorporate many of the shop’s vintage musical items in his design for the space, showcasing classic jukeboxes, phonographs, and instruments.

“It’s going to be a really cool vibe,” he said. A first concert has been pencilled in for May 6, with Canadian country singer Marshall Dane bringing his talents to the Highlands. Tickets are $32 and can be bought at Castle and The Hair Lounge in Haliburton.

Titus said there are six further concerts confirmed for the summer, with Christiano adding he hopes to put on at least one show per week. This is in addition to the Friday night offerings, which Christiano says will continue, noting they provide opportunities and experience for up-and-coming local performers.

The space can also be booked for workshops, seminars, and corporate events, he said.

Lowes feels this new space has the potential to benefit all businesses in the downtown.

“I’m hopeful this will kickstart more of a lively evening atmosphere – bring more people into Haliburton during times when it’s usually starting to quiet down,” she said.

“We’re not limiting ourselves to one night a week – this will really be driven by public demand. If people want to see more, then we’ll do more.

“I think this is going to be really popular, and I’m just excited to see where we can take this,” she added.

For more information about The Music Room and upcoming shows, follow them on Facebook and Instagram @ themusicroomhaliburton. To enquire about tickets, email themusicroomhaliburton@ gmail.com.

Toronto-based designer Debra Salmoni said Haliburton County has long been one of her favourite destinations while filming material for HGTV’s hit show Scott’s Vacation House Rules.

Season four premieres April 23, with the first two episodes featuring properties in Coboconk and Algonquin Highlands. While filming last year, Salmoni said her return to the Highlands was something of a homecoming.

“I have such an emotional connection to Haliburton – my mother’s side of the family had a cottage on Eagle Lake, so I’ve been heading up there ever since I was in utero,” she told The Highlander. “I spent a lot of time in the County while I was growing up… I remember trips we’d take down into Minden, we’d go out to the dump just to see all the bears. Some amazing memories, for sure.”

Salmoni has offered her expertise on the hour-long show since its debut in 2020. Hosted by contractor Scott McGillivray, it provides a road map to renovation and rental success for homeowners, she said. The episodes often see the team transform a rundown property into something more befitting its natural surroundings.

In a previous interview with the paper, McGillivray said he tries to strike a delicate balance with every one of his redesigns.

“We don’t go and do anything that’s going to destroy the environment. We’re not interested in helicopter pads,” he said.

“We’re not a show that goes in and says, ‘let’s tear this down and build something that’s a 100,000 sq. ft. mega mansion’. Our show is way more grassroots than that.

“We’re here to support the local community, be balanced with what we do, be respectful about it, and find affordable ways for people to have a slice of that dream too,” he added.

Episode one features a cliffside cabin in Coboconk, owned by a long-time friend of McGillivray’s.

“It was quite a long renovation, it ended up taking us closer to six months to complete. We were fighting some of the elements throughout that project, but that’s what I love about the show. We’re not putting this high gloss vision of perfection out there, it’s all real-life stuff,” Salmoni said. “Scott encounters some major challenges with his renovations, and we like to show how we deal with those head on.”

The second episode captures a waterfront property overlooking Halls Lake in Algonquin Highlands. The owners are cottagers from the city, who wanted to spruce up the place so they can rent it out and help cover some of the costs associated with running it.

“I think their situation is very relatable for a lot of millennials,” Salmoni said.

The bungalow has been transformed on the inside to incorporate more of a “techie” theme, with local contractors assisting with the rebuild. The episode will air April 30. A third episode featuring a Highlands property will be released in the fall.

Aside from the lakes and natural beauty, Salmoni said a key attraction to filming in the County is the people.

“We have never had a bad experience up there. When we pull up to a property, the neighbours are always so gracious. A lot of times we don’t have running water, or space for parking, so we’ve had neighbours let us use their washroom, park in their driveway, offer to feed us,” Salmoni said. “This is a very welcoming community.”

Scott’s Vacation House Rules premieres April 23 at 10 p.m. on HGTV Canada, and is available to stream on StackTV.

Chris Kranyak stands on the front step of her Anson Street, Minden, home having a cigarette and warily watching the Gull River across the street.

Orange sand bags line the boat launch a stone’s throw away.

Kranyak has only lived in the house for two-and-a-half years, and not experienced a Gull River breach, but her sister, who lived in the home for 30 years, has.

“When they put the sandbags down the other day, our first thought was, of course, they’re expecting floods, but they put out on the Minden Hills website that it was just a precaution,” Kranyak said on April 18.

“But we watch the water go up and down every day,” she added. “I don’t think it will flood. We went through those torrential rains on the Sunday two weeks ago. It didn’t end up being anything.”

Nevertheless she is keeping an eye on the large culvert out front as well as water levels in the backyard. After all, it’s that time of year. Minden Hills and other County residents are watching the Gull and Burnt River for rising waters and other Highlanders are keeping an eye on lakes as the Trent Severn Waterway manages dams for spring run-off.

Minden Hills mayor Bob Carter said the township has another week or two to worry about potential flooding, but as of April 18 conditions were stable.

The MNRF gave notice April 14 of the potential for flooding based on weather forecasts calling for heavy rain, snow melt, high winds and other conditions. The water conditions statement – flood outlook bulletin remains in effect until April 21 at 4 p.m.

Carter, who has spoken with Parks Canada and the MNRF a number of times over the last week or two, said he’s been told there’s still a lot of snow in the northern areas. As a result, he said the melt has been significant but the good news is, “we didn’t have all of the rain that was forecast.

“So, as long as our rain levels remain somewhat normal, or slightly above normal, we’ll be fine.” However, if there is another big rainstorm like the recent one, the mayor said, “that would be problematic. So, we have another week or two to worry about it.”

Township staff confirmed they have placed sandbags across the boat launch on Anson Street as a precaution. The boat launch is closed until further notice.

In its statement, the MNRF advised of hazardous conditions near water, localized flooding on access roads, and told people to prepare accordingly.

“MNRF is closely monitoring the weather and developing watershed conditions. Further updates will be issued as appropriate,” they said.