|
Quebec
MONTREAL —Give
partnership a chance In
1969 the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal made international
headlines by hosting John Lennon and Yoko Ono's recording
of "Give Peace a Chance." Former Manitoba premier Gary
Filmon and Dr Mervyn Turner, senior VP and worldwide
head of research at Merck, hope the ideas generated
by their workshop, "Biopharmaceuticals and partnerships
with government: How do you create an innovative strategy?",
also hosted at the QE hotel, will have the same staying
power. The BIOMEDEX 2005 convention will be attended
by experts from both private and public healthcare spheres.
DB
GATINEAU-HULL
— There's
no place like home Despite their tempting offers,
out-of-province recruiters hoping to poach young medical
talent from Quebec are courting disappointment. Experts
say it will take a lot more than big salaries to uproot
francophone medics from their province. "Most doctors
are captive of the culture here in Quebec," Dr AndrÄ
Senikas, president of the Quebec Medical Association,
told the CBC, "in the sense that we're French-speaking.
So it takes a lot for people to move out of the province."
DB
Hot
Spot
Nova Scotia
HALIFAX —
Superman's helping
hand(out) A $168,000 grant from the Christopher
Reeve Paralysis Foundation will go a long way for one
neurosurgeon/neurological researcher at Dalhousie University
Medical School. Dr Rob Brownstone, who studies the influence
of spinal cord-clustering Hb9 interneurons on the rhythmic
cadence of walking, is thankful to the late Superman
star, and keen to get on with his important research.
"We think of the brain as the master controller of everything
we do, but in fact the nerve signals that control walking
originate in the spinal cord, not the brain," he enthused.
BH
Contributors: Hector Andrews, Simon
Biggar, Donna Byers, Lance Davies, Geoff Everett, Jane George, Brian
Hoyle, Thane Jenkins, Julie J. Mercier, Deana Stokes
Sullivan, and Brent Woodford
|
New Brunswick
FREDERICTON —Eleventh
hour loophole The
people of Caraquet were overjoyed at a recent ruling
by the province's Court of Appeal. In January lower
court judge Roger Savoie threw out a lawsuit by the
town to save their hospital's ER. The town claims the
province can't downgrade Caraquet's hospital, because
such a move would violate the linguistic rights of the
town's French-speaking majority. The Court of Appeal
overruled Justice Savoie's ruling and agreed to a new
hearing. But with no date set, a decision is unlikely
before April 1, the day the downgrade is set to happen.
SB
Prince
Edward Island
MONTAGUE —
Salute your local
volunteers "Noah's Ark was built by amateurs
while the Titanic was built by professionals." Such
were the words of praise from Cultural Affairs Minister
Elmer MacFadyen for the province's army of volunteers.
Premier Pat Binns was also on hand to honour Islanders
for their contributions to PEI society, including healthcare,
at the 2005 Volunteer Recognition Awards. Among the
'Ark-builders' recognized were cancer survivor Elaine
Smith, Arlene Power of Alzheimer PEI, and Donna Lewis
of AIDS PEI. BW
Newfoundland
ST JOHN'S —
Vaccine plan's
hidden contraindication Some Newfoundland parents
are having second thoughts about the ballyhooed addition
of three new vaccines to the province's public immunization
program for children. After reading the fine print,
they're unhappy with conditions attached to the pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine (Prevnar). The vaccine protects against
diseases like meningitis and bacteremia, but is only
available free to children born after January 1, 2005.
The vaccine is normally given in four doses at two,
four, six and 18 months of age at a cost of about $80
per shot. DSS
The
Territories
IQALUIT, NU —
Northern connection
Nunavut is the first jurisdiction in Canada to
have telehealth units in every one of its community
health centres. Nunavut's Department of Health and Social
Services recently completed its Ikajuruti-Inungnik-Ungasiktumi
network. "We are very pleased that we have achieved
our goal of having all 25 communities in Nunavut equipped
with telehealth units," said Health Minister Levinia
Brown. The telehealth network is a boon to doctors and
patients alike, making programs like family visitations,
CME, pediatrics and obstetrics available to even the
remotest centres. JG
|
