Cornwall_2013_02_06

NEWS

editionap.ca

Group not giving up on hospital

CRIME SCENE

Daughters assaulted A 47-year-old Cornwall man faces charges after he was accused of assault- ing both his 14-year-old and 10-year- old daughter. The man was arrested Thursday after it was alleged that two days earlier he en- tered into an altercation with his 14-year- old daughter when he assaulted her. Fur- ther investigation revealed that during the summer of 2012, he also assaulted his 10-year-old daughter. He was charged with two counts of assault. His name was not released as it would identify the victims. Caught on the run A 45-year-old Cornwall man’s attempt to flee after a shoplifting incident was quickly derailed when he was collared by off-duty police officers. Patrick Proulx was arrested Thursday af- ter it is alleged he attended a Ninth Street store and removed property without making any attempt for the items. He is charged with theft under $5,000. He was released to appear in court on March 14. Two in a row A Cornwall man accused of passing counterfeit money at a Pitt Street store Jan. 13 is back is back in trouble with the law after he was accused of stealing items from local stores on Thursday. Nyle Prairie, 25, was charged after members of the Cornwall Community Po- lice Service’s street crime unit observed a man taking items from local stores with- out paying for them. He is charged him with two counts of theft under $5,000, breach of a proba- tion order and failing to comply with an undertaking. He was held in custody until court the following day. He was charged Jan. 13 with attempt- ed fraud under $5,000 and breach of a probation order after he was accused of passing counterfeit money at a Pitt Street store. He was released to appear in court on Feb. 23 in connection with that incident. Concealed weapon A Cornwall man faces weapons charges after he was accused of possessing a prohibited weapon. Timothy Bryan Archer, 38 of Cornwall was arrested on January Thursday, after Cornwall police found him in possession of nunchuks. He is charged with unauthorized pos- session of a weapon and carrying a con- cealed weapon. He was released to ap- pear in court on March 12. Continued on Page 7

GREG KIELEC greg.kielec@eap.on.ca

The Cornwall Community Hospital will not delay the sale of its Second Street site to allow for more community input in the decision. Councillor Bernadette Clement asked at last Monday night’s city council meeting if the hospital board is set on its Feb. 25 date to receive purchase offers. “It seems very quick … it seems a quick time frame for them (community members) to be able to respond.” But hospital chief executive officer Jea- nette Despatie ruled out delaying the sale of the site, which has been already listed for $2 million with a Cornwall real estate firm. “I don’t think it would be a good business decision,” she told Clement. Despatie also reaffirmed that the board has no interest in holding community con- sultations about the sale of the hospital site. She said community consultations would be fruitless when there are no other options other than to sell the site. Despatie and hospital board chair Helene Periard were at council to explain the pro- cess behind the board’s December decision to put the former Cornwal General Hospital site for sale. A former city councillor is not giving up hope that the former Cornwall General Hospital site can become a community hub for seniors, despite the fact the build- ing could be sold in a little more than a month. “There is a long list of social benefits the building can be used for,” said Mark Mac- Donald at a press conference in front of the hospital Friday afternoon.“People are going to have to put politics aside or we run the risk of losing an opportunity like this.” In a presentation to council last Monday night, hospital CEO Jeanette Despatie said there are no other options for the hospital other than to sell the site and consulting the community about the sale would be purposeless. MacDonald, standing on the sidewalk in front of the hospital site flanked by anti- poverty activist Gary Samler and student activists Josh Welsh and Emily Ladoucer- MacDonald, criticized Despatie’s assertion community consulted is not needed. “We’re talking about a building that’s worth $2 million and is probably worth a bundle more than that. And the building already belongs to us. It’s something we al- ready paid for.” GREG KIELEC GREG.KIELEC@EAP.ON.CA

Photo - Greg Kielec

Mark MacDonald speaks Friday afternoon in front of the former Cornwall General Hospital, flanked by student activists JoshWelsh and Emily Ladoucer-MacDonald.

Periard said there has been “much fear” over the impending sale of the site, but she reminded council that the closure of the Second Street site was part of the original deal with the province when the hospitals amalgamated to form the Cornwall Com- munity Hospital. The former Cornwall General Hospital and Hotel Dieu hospital received final direction from the province in 2003 to consolidate under an expanded and upgraded facil- ity at the McConnell Avenue site, Despatie said. One of the conditions of the amalga- mation was the disposal of former Cornwall General site once the remaining programs have been moved to the McConnell site, she said. Phase 3 of the McConnell Avenue site’s expansion should be completed, and all programs and services transferred, by mid- 2014, Despatie said. “And the Second Street site at that time will become vacant.” “The hospital will have no use for the va- cant building,” she added. “We will have no budget to cover the costs of the site on Sec- ond Street.” The CCH will have to begin paying prop- erty taxes, and will still have pay for insur- ance and maintenance of the site out of its operating budget because the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care will “There are probably 15-20 government offices that could use the facility here for a permanent home. And they wouldn’t have to look any further.” “And the one thing I take exception to is that there was a presentation to city council where the hospital board stated that it’s a done deal, that it’s not negotiable. It is poli- tics and everything is negotiable, especially when it comes to seniors and issues affect- ing seniors.” MacDonald wants city council to put to- gether a proposal to acquire the site. He in- vited all of city council to a second public meeting held at the McConnell Manor on

not cover the operating costs of the former hospital once it is empty, Despatie said. Councillor Andre Rivette asked if the hos- pital would be willing to lease the Second Street site if funding could be acquired to operate it as a long-term care site, but Despatie said the board would prefer to sell the site outright. Mayor Bob Kilger suggested Chantal Leclerc, chief executive officer of the Cham- plain Local Health Integration Network, be invited to council after Clement raised an open question about what council can do to receive more clarity on the issue. Leclerc recently turned down a request from the Eastern Ontario Health Unit’s board of directors to create a task force to examine the long-term care needs of Corn- wall and the surrounding area. The LHINwill be shutting down at the end of March an Assess and Restore unit opened at the former General Hospital in late 2011 to deal with a backlog of patients tying up beds at the hospital’s McConnell site while awaiting long-term care beds. Rivette is concerned that once the unit is sold and the hospital site is sold, there will be no avenue for the hospital should it become overwhelmed with so called alter- nate-level-of-care patients at the McCon- nell site. Monday evening, to further discuss how the Second Street site can be used for the benefit of area seniors. “The way it has been handled from the beginning, I think, has been wrong. There has to be public consultation. There has to be public meetings … because without finding out what the public wants, how are you going to move forward?” Thegrouphas alsowritten toOntarioHealth Minister DebMatthews to get her position on the issue. She had earlier said in a media in- terview that community consultations should be held and any community proposal for the site should be brought to the hospital board.

No delaying sale of former CGH, says CCH CEO

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