Lanark County

3 days ago

Lanark County Council received an update from Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital (PSFDH) President and CEO Michael Cohen on the core capital campaign and the hospital.

Cohen explained this year’s key strategic plan activities focus on improving best practices and care delivery and efficiency in their operating rooms, along with a renewed focus on engaging patients to improve care. This involves improving throughput in operating rooms, launching a new Nursing Model of Care, enhancing patient engagement and experience, and beginning to advance the hospital redevelopment project.

He noted patient occupancy rates are more than 100% due to high volumes and a large number of patients waiting for long-term care beds. Recruitment and retention continue to be areas of focus and have seen success with full-time positions, but there are still challenges with filling temporary positions. There is a new resuscitation area at the Smiths Falls site and the third-floor nursing station renovation at the Perth site is nearing completion. There is new funding to increase MRI hours. Cohen noted the hospital had a good year financially.

Cohen outlined the three stages for hospital redevelopment planning: early planning, detailed planning and construction. PSFDH is in the early planning stage, with a pre-capital submission completed in 2023 to outline general intent and high-level parameters and cost. Cohen said they will be starting the master plan component of this stage next year, which includes community engagement and involves outlining future demand, existing facilities, analysis of options, costs and schedule and other details. Cohen said it could be at least six to eight years before there is a new site.

As part of the core capital campaign, Cohen said the new electronic patient record system was implemented last December and commended staff for its smooth implementation. Cohen thanked council for its continued support and asked the county to renew its $169,500 commitment in support of next year’s campaign, and to expand the scope to support the redevelopment project and clinical capital replacement. ... See MoreSee Less

Lanark County

3 days ago

Lanark County Council has received the “Ten-Year Paramedic Human Resources and Facilities Master Plan” and directed staff to bring the recommendations from the report to a future corporate services committee meeting for discussion.

Senior Consultant Hannah Mayes-Frenett explained Operational Research in Health (ORH) looked at the data for the paramedic service, analysed it to understand operations, used predictive modelling for the future and conducted consultation to learn more about the Lanark County Paramedic Service (LCPS). The objective is to help to address call volume projections and determine an optimal number and location of facilities, vehicle requirements to meet response time standards and staffing model recommendations (including support staff).

ORH analysed data from 2020 to 2024 and found an annual increase in incidents of about 5.5 per cent per year and an average call time (from vehicle enroute to cleared) to be just over an hour, with time at the hospital the greatest contributor to this.

Mayes-Frenett said information from site visits, interviews and documentation review found staff were complimentary about the LCPS and the county, but a theme emerged about an inability to be truly proactive rather than reactive, relating to staffing, physical capacity issues, funding constraints for the Community Paramedicine Program and technological inefficiencies.

She explained ORH’s modelling software simulates the entire life cycle of emergency incidents, using historical data and a baseline for 2025. They projected demand over the next 10 years, including population and aging and found the number of incidents per day is expected to increase from 31 in 2024 to 49 in 2035. The projections were used to determine what resources would be needed to offset the demand, including increasing vehicle hours, additional paramedics and relocation of two bases to improve capacity for ambulances. The report also addresses some alternative scenarios and makes recommendations around additional support services. ORH has provided a phased plan for consideration. ... See MoreSee Less

Lanark County

3 days ago

Lanark County is partnering with industry leader Building Knowledge Canada Inc. to offer local contractors free training on high performance homes and Better Homes Lanark, a home energy retrofit program launched by the County earlier this year.

When:
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
8:00am - 12:00pm

Where:
99 Christie Lake Road, Perth, ON K7H 3C6

Learn more and register here:
betterhomeslanarkcontractortraining.eventbrite.com

For more information:
Call 613-267-4200 x 3105 or email betterhomeslanark@lanarkcounty.ca ... See MoreSee Less

Lanark County

4 days ago

On October 21, the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) met in Ottawa for its Parliament Hill Advocacy Day, meeting with federal officials and Members of Parliament to discuss urgent priorities impacting our 103 small urban and rural eastern Ontario communities.

Representing 1.1 million residents, or 1 in 40 Canadians, the EOWC used the opportunity to build relationships with Prime Minister Carney’s new government, regional Members of Parliament, and the official opposition, to progress priorities, including that the Federal Government:
•Unlock trade and housing-enabling infrastructure to build Canada’s economic resilience
•Invest in eastern Ontario ports to expand national and global trade
•Ensure the new Build Canada Homes program includes rural and small urban municipalities at the forefront in its design and implementation
•Modernize federal coordination and remove barriers to support the advancement of paramedic services

“Eastern Ontario is facing real challenges, but also tremendous opportunities,” stated Bonnie Clark, Chair of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus and Warden of Peterborough County. “Our meetings on Parliament Hill were about making sure the government knows that the EOWC and our municipalities are partners they can count on to deliver on national goals in our local communities. Our communities are ready to work, ready to grow, and ready to partner with the federal government to deliver results for the people we serve.”

The advocacy day started with a breakfast reception featuring remarks from Chris Malette, Member of Parliament for the Bay of Quinte, and Eric Duncan, Member of Parliament for Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (and former Chair of the EOWC). Their insights highlighted the importance of continued federal support for rural priorities.

Building on that message, EOWC leaders participated in 15 meetings, presenting data and recommendations to strengthen eastern Ontario’s economy, enhance service delivery, and support Canada’s efforts to remain competitive on the global stage.

The EOWC was honoured to meet with Zachary Nixon from the Ontario Desk in the Prime Minister’s Office, as well as the following federal representatives:
•Pauline Rochefort, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State (Rural Development)
•Jennifer McKelvie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure
•Mike Kelloway, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and Internal Trade
•Chris Malette, Member of Parliament for Bay of Quinte
•Staff from the offices of Buckley Belanger, Secretary of State (Rural Development), and Karina Gould, Chair of the Standing Committee of Finance.
The EOWC also engaged with members of the official opposition, including staff from Pierre Poilievre’s office, and:
•Richard Bragdon, Shadow Minister for Rural Development
•Larry Brock, Shadow Minister for Justice and Attorney General of Canada
•Scott Aitchison, Shadow Minister for Housing and Infrastructure
•Jamie Schmale, Member of Parliament for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes
•Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Member of Parliament for Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga

The EOWC remains committed to working collaboratively with all levels of government to ensure the long-term prosperity, sustainability, and well-being of eastern Ontario’s small urban and rural communities.

See eowc.org/ for more info.

Photo from the EOWC's breakfast reception:
Left-to-right: Jessica Uitvlugt, Administrative and Communications Coordinator, EOWC; Marc-Andre Periard, Paramedic Chief and Emergency Services Department Director, United Counties of Prescott and Russell; Kurt Greaves, CAO, County of Lanark; Martin Lang, Warden, United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry; Bob Mullin, Warden, County of Hastings; Eric Duncan, Member of Parliament, Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry; Yves Laviolette, Warden, United Counties of Prescott and Russell; Chris Malette, Member of Parliament, Bay of Quinte; Steve Ferguson, Vice-Chair; Bonnie Clark, Chair, EOWC; Toby Randell, Warden, County of Lanark; Sheridan Graham, Secretary-Treasurer, EOWC; Jason St. Pierre, CEO, EORN; Nathan Townend, Warden, County of Lennox and Addington; Maureen Adams, CAO, United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry; Connor Dorey, CAO, County of Hastings; Travis Mellema, Paramedic Chief, County of Lanark; Corinna Smith-Gatcke, Warden, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville; Glenn Dees, CAO, Northumberland County; Adam Goheen, CAO, County of Prince Edward; Peter Emon, Warden, County of Renfrew; Brian Ostrander, Warden, Northumberland County; Craig Kelley, CAO, County of Renfrew; Meredith Staveley-Watson, Director of Government Relations and Policy, EOWC; Gary Dyke, CAO, Haliburton County. ... See MoreSee Less

Lanark County

4 days ago

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Lanark County

4 days ago

Learn how the Better Homes Lanark program can make your home more comfortable, efficient and affordable at our virtual information session, Thursday, Oct. 30 from 12 to 1 p.m.

Please register for this free session at: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/kCgrMzGyQGqrBL9cl9uakA

Learn more information about the Better Homes Lanark program at www.lanarkcounty.ca/betterhomeslanark ... See MoreSee Less