NEWS
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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 m an was arrested Thursda y after it was alleged that two da y s earlier he en- tered into an altercation with his 14- y ear- old daughter when he assaulted her. Fur- ther investigation revealed that during the su mm er of 2012, he also assaulted his 10- y ear-old daughter. He was charged with two counts of assault. His na m e was not released as it would identif y the victi m s. 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 Thursda y af- ter it is alleged he attended a Ninth Street store and re m oved propert y without m aking an y atte m pt for the ite m s. 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. N y le Prairie, 25, was charged after m e m bers of the Cornwall Co mm unit y Po- lice Service’s street cri m e unit observed a m an taking ite m s fro m local stores with- out pa y ing for the m . He is charged hi m with two counts of theft under $5,000, breach of a proba- tion order and failing to co m pl y with an undertaking. He was held in custod y until court the following da y . He was charged Jan. 13 with atte m pt- ed fraud under $5,000 and breach of a probation order after he was accused of passing counterfeit m one y 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. Ti m oth y Br y an Archer, 38 of Cornwall was arrested on Januar y Thursda y , after Cornwall police found hi m in possession of nunchuks. He is charged with unauthorized pos- session of a weapon and carr y ing 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
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 Frida y afternoon. “People are going to have to put politics aside or we run the risk of losing an opportunit y like this.” In a presentation to council last Monda y night, hospital CEO Jeanette Despatie said there are no other options for the hospital other than to sell the site and consulting the co mm unit y about the sale would be purposeless. MacDonald, standing on the sidewalk in front of the hospital site flanked b y anti- povert y activist Gar y Sa m ler and student activists Josh Welsh and E m il y Ladoucer- MacDonald, criticized Despatie’s assertion co mm unit y consulted is not needed. “We’re talking about a building that’s worth $2 m illion and is probabl y worth a bundle m ore than that. And the building alread y belongs to us. It’s so m ething we al- read y paid for.”
Photo - Greg Kielec
Mark MacDonald speaks Friday afternoon in front of the for m er Cornwall General Hospital, flanked by student activists Josh Welsh and E m ily Ladoucer-MacDonald.
“There are probabl y 15-20 govern m ent offices that could use the facilit y here for a per m anent ho m e. And the y wouldn’t have to look an y further.” “And the one thing I take exception to is that there was a presentation to cit y council where the hospital board stated that it’s a done deal, that it’s not negotiable. It is poli- tics and ever y thing is negotiable, especiall y when it co m es to seniors and issues affect- ing seniors.” MacDonald wants cit y council to put to- gether a proposal to acquire the site. He in- vited all of cit y council to a second public m eeting held at the McConnell Manor on
Monda y evening, to further discuss how the Second Street site can be used for the benefit of area seniors. “The wa y it has been handled fro m the beginning, I think, has been wrong. There has to be public consultation. There has to be public m eetings … because without finding out what the public wants, how are y ou going to m ove forward?” The group has also written to Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews to get her position on the issue. She had earlier said in a m edia in- terview that co mm unit y consultations should be held and an y co mm unit y proposal for the site should be brought to the hospital board.
No delaying sale of former CGH, says CCH CEO
Periard said there has been “ m uch fear” over the i m pending sale of the site, but she re m inded council that the closure of the Second Street site was part of the original deal with the province when the hospitals a m alga m ated to for m the Cornwall Co m - m unit y Hospital. The for m er Cornwall General Hospital and Hotel Dieu hospital received final direction fro m the province in 2003 to consolidate under an expanded and upgraded facil- it y at the McConnell Avenue site, Despatie said. One of the conditions of the a m alga- m ation was the disposal of for m er Cornwall General site once the re m aining progra m s have been m oved to the McConnell site, she said. Phase 3 of the McConnell Avenue site’s expansion should be co m pleted, and all progra m s and services transferred, b y m id- 2014, Despatie said. “And the Second Street site at that ti m e will beco m e 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 pa y ing prop- ert y taxes, and will still have pa y for insur- ance and m aintenance of the site out of its operating budget because the Ontario Ministr y of Health and Long Ter m Care will
not cover the operating costs of the for m er hospital once it is e m pt y , 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-ter m care site, but Despatie said the board would prefer to sell the site outright. Ma y or Bob Kilger suggested Chantal Leclerc, chief executive officer of the Cha m - plain Local Health Integration Network, be invited to council after Cle m ent raised an open question about what council can do to receive m ore clarit y on the issue. Leclerc recentl y turned down a request fro m the Eastern Ontario Health Unit’s board of directors to create a task force to exa m ine the long-ter m care needs of Corn- wall and the surrounding area. The LHIN will be shutting down at the end of March an Assess and Restore unit opened at the for m er General Hospital in late 2011 to deal with a backlog of patients t y ing up beds at the hospital’s McConnell site while awaiting long-ter m 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 beco m e overwhel m ed with so called alter- nate-level-of-care patients at the McCon- nell site.
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 Cle m ent asked at last Monda y night’s cit y council m eeting if the hospital board is set on its Feb. 25 date to receive purchase offers. “It see m s ver y quick … it see m s a quick ti m e fra m e for the m (co mm unit y m e m bers) to be able to respond.” But hospital chief executive officer Jea- nette Despatie ruled out dela y ing the sale of the site, which has been alread y listed for $2 m illion with a Cornwall real estate fir m . “I don’t think it would be a good business decision,” she told Cle m ent. Despatie also reaffir m ed that the board has no interest in holding co mm unit y con- sultations about the sale of the hospital site. She said co mm unit y 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 Dece m ber decision to put the for m er Cornwal General Hospital site for sale.
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