Figures paint troubling picture of teen suicide
EOHU survey indicates almost 500 teenage girls contemplated suicide in previous year
ders required medical treatment the previ- ous year as a result of a suicide attempt. The full study will likely be released in the next couple weeks, Roumeliotis said. Speaking at a meeting EOHU board this morning in Cornwall, Roumeliotis also re- vealed a “worrisome level” of cyberbully- ing taking place among teens in the region, especially among girls. And he noted there is a correlation between bullying and sui- cide, which is the leading cause of death for teens in the region. “It makes sense. But I don’t think we can say: ‘It’s just bullying, if you stamp out bul- lying you stamp out the problem.’ “No, there is a pervasive mental health issue among our teens and our youth that is multi-factorial and bullying is just one symptom,” Roumletiotis said after the meeting. “I don’t think bullying is the only cause – it makes it worse. Bullying is an example of improper parenting or lack of parenting or improper examples. If you are beat up at home and you are bullied at home by your parents, what are you going to do?” Roumeliotis said he isn’t sure what the health unit’s role is in addressing the prob- lem, but said the agency will work to facil- itate measures needed. “It’s sad, but we’ve got to do it.” Follow @gkielec on Twitter. For breaking news, go to www.editionap.ca and click on The Journal. Email greg.kielec@eap.on.ca cility. A temporary suite for alternate level of care patients has been established at the site to ease the backlog of mostly elderly pa- tients tying up beds at the hospital’s Mc- Connell Avenue site while awaiting a long-term care bed. There also is a mental health wing and a sleep lab at the site on Second Street site. But the former Cornwall General Site has remained largely vacant since the merging
By Greg Kielec
“Strikingly worrisome” figures from an Eastern Ontario Health Unit survey show that one in seven teen girls thought about committing suicide in the previous year. The survey of grades 7-11 students also in- dicated that one in 12 males in the year leading up to the survey had contemplated suicide, said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, medical officer of health for the region, speaking at an EOHU board meeting Thursday morn- ing. The survey has not yet been officially re- leased, but its results have already prompted the health unit to begin working on training area teachers to detect signs of potentially suicidal behaviour in students, said Roumeliotis. The study surveyed 3,509 students in the eastern Ontario region covered by the health unit, which includes urban centres such as Cornwall, Hawkesbury and Rock- land. If the percentages in the survey are extrap- olated to the total number of teens sur- veyed, it means that 491 girls and 280 boys had considered suicide in the previous year. The survey also indicated that 315 girls surveyed made suicide plans the previous year and 210 actually made a suicide at- tempt, while 175 boys made plans and 105 boys attempted suicide, Roumeliotis said. Of the students surveyed 35 in both gen-
Photo by Greg Kielec Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, medical officer of health for the region, speaks at a board of health meeting at the Eastern Ontario Health Unit in Cornwall on Thursday. He re- vealed a study by the EOHU revealed worrying figures about teen suicide ideation. Health unit advocates examining old hospital site for long-term care
long-term care beds as aging baby boomers fall prey to chronic illness. “It is … demon- strated that many of these seniors may de- velop some type of memory disorder, requiring more specialty care than ever be- fore,” the motion reads. Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, EOHU medical offi- cer of health, lauded Rivette’s proposal as a “farsighted” plan that deserved the support of the board. He said there will be a “big gap” between the young and elderly in the next 10 to 15 years and the region’s health care providers will face a “tsunami” of aging baby boomers coupled with people becoming ill at a younger age. He said the creation of the task force will at least give health care agencies a chance to plan for the inevitable, “because if you wait 10 years, you are too late.” greg.kielec@eap.on.ca
of acute care under one emergency depart- ment at a revitalized McConnell Avenue site under Cornwall Community Hospital. Rivette, in proposing the motion, said he was incredulous when he learned through an article in The Journal last week that the hospital had never been approached about using the Second Street site for long-term care. “I think we should be the leader,” he urged, in arguing for the proposal, which was endorsed unanimously by the health unit’s board. Board chair Todd Lalonde said it is “sad” that a discussion about using the site for long-term care has yet to take place. “It’s time that somebody takes the leadership role,” he said. Rivette’s motion cites demographics which indicate an increasing demand for
By Greg Kielec
Cornwall city councillor Andre Rivette’s mission to use the former Cornwall Gen- eral Hospital site for long-term care has been endorsed by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit’s board of directors. The motion recommends a task force be created by the Champlain Local Health In- tegration Network to investigate using the former General site as a long-term care fa-
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The Knights of Columbus, Bishop BrodeurAssembly, held a community breakfast on February 12, 2012, at Blessed Sacrament Church to raise funds for the students of Holy Trinity High School who are going on a missionary trip to the Dominican Republic. A cheque of $500.00 was presented by breakfast chairman Sir Knight Robert Bedard to teacher Kim MacLennan. Pictured left to right are: Jazmen Tourangeau (student), Justin Matte-Levac (student), Sir Knight Robert Bedard, Alex Stacey (student), Kim MacLennan (teacher and supervisor), Alexandra MacLennan (volunteer), MariaRamage (student). Missing fromphoto: Katrina Billard (student).
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