•T h e IF P • H alto n H ills, Thursday, M ay 1, 2014 11 311Halton.ca Keeping you safe and healthy Halton's Physician AppreciationWeek (April 28 to May 2) is the perfect time to thank our doctors for all they do to keep us healthy. During this week, Halton Region and local hospitals recognize physicians for their contributions to our community. Now in its 11th year, Physician AppreciationWeek in Halton was originally established as part of the Halton Physician Recruitment program, supporting our commitment towards achieving the best possible health and wellbeing for all. For more than a decade, Halton Region's Physician Recruitment program has promoted Halton as a location of choice to doctors deciding where to practise. With more than 200 new family doctors making Halton home to their practice since 2003, we're well on our way to meeting the goal of a family doctor for every Halton resident. Thank you to all of Halton's dedicated physicians who work tirelessly year round, making a difference in every life they touch. Thanks to our physicians, Halton is a safe and healthy community, and a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. Gary Carr, Regional Chair Looking for a family doctor? We've found some! Halton.ca/ newphysicians Thanking doctors for keeping Halton healthy Committing to future family doctors through McMaster partnership Halton's Physician Recruitment program also continues to provide support to the Halton McMaster Family Health Centre in Burlington. The Family Health Centre is part of the 2009 Halton McMaster partnership which saw Halton Region and the City of Burlington provide ten-year funding to McMaster University to help establish a variety of programs in the Region. In June 2013, the first group of Halton McMaster Family Health Centre family medicine residents completed their training and from those five residents, three are now establishing practices in Halton. Currently, eight first-year residents and six second-year residents are at the Burlington-based Family Health Centre site and Halton is excited to work with them as they graduate to establish practices in the Region. Update: Georgetown Hospital At 14,000 square feet the new Emergency Department (ED) at Georgetown Hospital (GH) is approximately three times the size of the previous department. Completed last year, the new ED welcomed its first patient on October 8, 2013. Located in entirely new space, the Emergency Department now features a separate main entrance for patients and visitors; enclosed individual treatment rooms for increased privacy and comfort; a specialized treatment room designed and equipped for the care of infants and young children and a separate and distinct area for the treatment of lower acuity patients. The expansion at GH also includes space for the Hospital's first Computed Tomography (CT) scanner which began scanning patients in November 2013, ensuring residents of Halton Hills have access to this essential service close to home. Renovations within the old Emergency Department to expand the Hospital's Diagnostic Imaging (DI) Department began in January 2014. This work will create a more functional layout and additional space allowing for larger rooms, separate waiting spaces and separation from public traffic as an additional improvement to patient privacy. Redevelopment of this area also brings imaging rooms formerly located outside of DI together improving the overall efficiency of the department. Halton Healthcare Services looks forward to celebrating the project's completion in Spring 2014.