|
Hot
Spot
New Brunswick
Agent Orange payoff
"not enough"
FREDERICTON —
Aging veterans exposed to Agent Orange spraying in Gagetown
are set to receive compensation and finally witness
closure to the more than 50-year-old saga. Veterans
Affairs Minister Greg Thompson and Defence Minister
Peter MacKay announced the details of a compensation
package at a news conference in Fredericton on September
12: a $20,000 lump-sum payment to people whose health
was affected. The payment, however, is ex gracia
— acknowledging no liability. Despite a controversial
new study by Ontario environmental researchers that
found the spraying had minimal impact on residents and
soldiers, and that cancer rates of veterans are similar
to those of the rest of the province, a 1,700-person
class-action suit is still ongoing. SB
Nova
Scotia
Small-town MRI lauded
YARMOUTH —
The Yarmouth Regional Hospital celebrated the first
anniversary of its MRI service on September 15. The
clinic has grown into a designated training site for
MRI technologists, reports the Yarmouth Vanguard,
and it performed over 1,640 scans in its first year.
"That's a significant number of trips to Metro saved
for the people of southwest Nova," said South West Health
spokesperson Barbara Johnson. The first students trained
at the clinic will be eligible for certification in
spring 2009. PL
Prince
Edward Island
No PEI rep on mental
health board
CHARLOTTETOWN
— Don't tell PEI Senator Catherine Callbeck
that the Canadian Senate is a dead institution. The
vocal senator is pleased with the federal government's
Mental Health Commission of Canada, but she wants to
know why there is not a place for an Islander on the
recently appointed board of directors. "We're the only
province that is not going to have a rep sitting on
that board," Ms Callbeck told the CBC. "I feel Islanders
have a great deal to contribute on this issue."
|
Newfoundland
Tilley cashes out,
lands new gig
ST JOHN'S —
George Tilley, who resigned as president and CEO of
Eastern Health in July, has been named interim CEO for
the Canadian Health Services Foundation. Mr Tilley left
Eastern Health abruptly in the midst of the continuing
controversy over hundreds of widespread estrogen/progesterone
hormone testing mistakes that took place during his
tenure, which has sparked a government inquiry and a
class-action suit. A freedom of information request
by The Telegram in late August unearthed the
details of Mr Tilley's severance package: for one year,
he is to receive his full salary at $255,000 plus life
and health insurance and pension payments. DSS
The
North
New hospital CEO
"committed" to YT
WHITEHORSE —
Joe MacGillivray will begin his duties as the
new chief executive officer of the Whitehorse General
Hospital on October 1. The hospital fired controversial
former CEO Michael Aeberhardt last August, less than
a year into his three year contract, due to claims he
wasn't committed to the region and that he had a poor
rapport with doctors. "Mr MacGillivray is committed
to the Yukon territory. He's got his family here, he
understands what the issues are, and I think it matters
a lot for physicians and patients and nurses alike,"
Dr Rao Tadepalli, president of the Yukon Medical Association,
told the CBC. HY
Contributors: Hector Andrews, Simon
Biggar, Donna Byers, Lance Davies, Geoff Everett, Thane
Jenkins, Paige Lee, Julie J Mercier, Deana Stokes Sullivan
and Henrietta Yan.
|
