Estevan Mercury - June 13, 2012

Page 1

June 13, 2012

WEDNESDAY

Standing Committee Meets in Estevan

www.estevanmercury.ca Issue 6

Twins Drop Four Straight

⇢ B4

Local efforts raise $60k for Relay

⇢ A5

Respiratory Study to Launch This Summer

⇢ A4

ECS Holds Awards Night

⇢ B11

Estevan’s annual fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society was down in numbers but still high in spirits and enthusiasm. The Relay for Life, held over Saturday night until Sunday morning at the Civic Auditorium, saw 11 teams participate, with all but one raising more than $2,500. Local participants as a group brought in $60,758. Patrick Fisher, event chair, said even though there were fewer teams, all entries were “dedicated and fantastic.” The total was short of their lofty goal, but Fisher said he was happy with the support they received this year. “I’m very happy with the turnout,” he said. “Together we’ll continue to fight back so that one day, no one in Estevan will have to hear those dreadful words: you have cancer.” Fisher added that it’s the individual efforts of local groups across the country that make Relay for Life the enormous fundraiser it is. “The relay movement is only as strong as the individual events that make up this phenomenon we know as the Relay for Life.” The night included plenty of entertainment, from musical performers and auctions, to a head shave. Marilyn Coates, cancer survivor and honourary

Marilyn Coates (centre) joined the other cancer survivors on hand for the Relay for Life survivors’ lap, during the Relay at the Civic Auditorium on June 9. co-chair, preached the virtues of sunscreen to protect from harmful exposure to the sun. “My message is to be diligent with sunscreen, and look after your children and grandchildren,” she told the crowd prior to the walk. Coates was diagnosed with melanoma and noted that within a very short time, a mark on her neck grew. She didn’t think was something to be concerned with until the tests came back for Stage 4 melanoma. She was among the roughly 50 survivors who attended the event, opening the evening’s activities

with a lap of the Civic, each dressed in a yellow T-shirt, holding a rose. “Use that sunscreen and enjoy this summer. I’ve been 12 years cancer-free. I was honoured to (act as honourary co-chair) this year. This is the first year I’ve ever taken part in Relay for Life.” Brent Olfert represented Apex, the event sponsor. Olfert was diagnosed with cancer last year and is now a survivor himself. “We saw it first hand last year, what it can be like when cancer hits a group,” he said. “Everybody was there to support us. We’re

honoured to be here today to celebrate with all the survivors and honour the memory of those who lost their battle.” Catherine Moore of the Canadian Cancer Society in Toronto noted the benefits of hosting the Relay for Life indoors. She said she was at a relay event a week before Estevan’s and disaster struck the event with wind and rain. They had to quickly move indoors to take shelter. The local relay was moved into the Civic last year because of wet conditions, and Fisher said for the time being, that’s where it

will stay. “We’d already booked the Civic. After seeing the weather and seeing what had happened the last couple of days, I think this was the right decision. Some of them do want to get back outside, but for the time being it is a little easier to plan inside.” He added that some relayers want to take the event back outside, but when bad weather hits, nobody likes being outside. “When people plan to be outside, they picture a nice, warm, summery (day) but that’s not common in Saskatchewan.”

Sun Country to investigate ERNH concerns by Chad Saxon of The Mercury

Property Taxes Going Up WEATHER & INDEX Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Careers .......B21-24 Church Dir........ B17 Classifieds ..B14-19 Obituaries ....... B16 Perspective........ A6

Energy ........A12-13 Services Dir. B18-19 Sports .......... B1 - 5 Community ..... B11

High 19º Low 11º High 23º Low 11º High 21º Low 11º High 21º Low 12º

Mailing No. 10769

⇢ A2

The CEO of the Sun Country Health Region says the organization will investigate the concerns raised about the Estevan Regional Nursing Home last week. In an interview with The Mercury Monday, Marga Cugnet said Sun Country is having private conversations with the family of Mary Mack and will look into the allegations they made about the neglectful care and possible abuse of their mother. Cugnet added she would like to ensure the public they take any allegations very seriously. “We’ve got this family that is in this situation of ex-

Marga Cugnet pressing concerns to us, but other families are reading this type of thing as well,” said Cugnet. “We want to assure them that everything is being looked at.” Frustrated by what they felt was a lack of action by Sun Country, Mack’s children went public with their concerns to The Mercury in May. In an article that

appeared on June 6, Mack’s daughter, Maggie Dupuis, spoke about a number of concerns they had regarding their mother’s care. As well, a former employee of ERNH also went public about the environment of bullying and intimidation among staff members that they felt might be a contributing factor to the issues raised by Dupuis. Cugnet said the health region has already been in contact with the family and would like to meet with them further to discuss the concerns, something she noted they appear open to. They have also begun a preliminary investigation. “The manager (of ERNH) is well aware of the concerns and she has

already started doing some investigation,” said Cugnet who added that the process when an issue arises, is to have someone in their quality care department to set up a meeting with all of the applicable parties. However, because the Mack family has raised some conflict of interest concerns regarding the local quality care employee, Cugnet said they have given the case to another SCHR employee. They have also decided to bring in the provincial quality co-ordinator as a third party observer. “We want a home-like environment for our residents that they feel secure in when they are being looked after, not just for the residents themselves

but also for the families as well. We have always tried to have that environment of communication between the family and the staff. “Our objective is to continue on with that and hopefully improve it and in this case obviously things haven’t been working in terms of communication. It’s unfortunate to have to go through this venue to get through this, but the family were aware that we had contacted them already and wanted to talk to them.” While speaking to The Mercury, both Dupuis and the former ERNH employee said the majority of workers at the long-term care facility are terrific caregivers and that a small group of employees are ⇢ A2

Stop in and see our 2012 Line-up! Meet Your Trusted Professionals

“Your Home of After Sales Service”

Senchuk Ford Sales Ltd.

118 Souris Ave. N., Estevan • 634-3696

Randy Senchuk

Rick Senchuk

Landon Senchuk

Dwight Thompson

Toll Free: 1-877-880-9094 (sales) 1-877-883-2576 (service) E-mail: sales@senchuk.com • www.senchukford.ca


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Estevan Mercury - June 13, 2012 by Estevan Mercury - Issuu