Wins on health front from conference

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tillsonburg Mayor Deb Gilvesy hopes that meetings with key provincial ministers at the recent

Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) will benefit town residents.

ROMA is an annual meeting of rural municipality officials attended by Ontario cabinet ministers. Municipal officials can apply to meet with ministers or ministry officials to discuss pressing issues in their municipalities. Gilvesy attended the meeting with Deputy Mayor Dave Beres, who is also on the ROMA board, and CAO Kyle Pratt.

Meeting with Anthony Leardi, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health, the Tillsonburg delegation reiterated its support for a nurse practitioner-led clinic from the Ingersoll group. Applications for this started in 2017. Each nurse practitioner could care for 800 patients, and Gilvesy said the clinic could also attract a doctor.

“When they view Tillsonburg, they view Tillsonburg as Oxford, which is correct,” she said. “The problem is Tillsonburg is actually a regional hub for Elgin and Norfolk.”

Gilvesy said Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman attended the meeting and helped drive that point home.

New health care clinic

The Tillsonburg team also told ministry officials that council has passed funding for a temporary clinic in Tillsonburg for individuals without a primary care provider. The Oxford Health Team announced the establishment of this clinic on Monday. It will be appointment-based only, and not for people with a primary care provider. Details regarding clinic dates, location and duration will be shared in coming weeks. The Oxford Health Team advised to follow its social media and website (oxfordoht.ca) for updates. Besides the Town of Tillsonburg, funding for the clinic is being provided by the Ingersoll Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, Roulston’s Pharmacy, Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital and Thames Valley Family Health Team.

Since the convention, the province announced $1.8 billion in funding to connect every Ontario resident to a primary care provider within the next four years. Gilvesy saw that as a positive for Tillsonburg.

Other issues

During a meeting with Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sport Neil Lumsden, recent discussions at council regarding the inability to use the money raised from lotteries by service clubs on town projects were discussed. Although all of the council expressed frustration with this, as service clubs funded many town projects in the past, Gilvesy and Beres were particularly vocal about it. Gilvesy said Lumsden wasn’t aware of this, and town officials will have a follow-up meeting with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, which oversees lotteries, for follow-up.

“This is an easy fix. It’s just a regulation fix. It won’t cost any money,” she said.

The Tillsonburg delegation also discussed funding for cyber security and a grant for the Multi-Service Centre to the Ontario Skills Development Fund with ministers.