Stratford Times July 26, 2024 _2 Former MPP, Stratford’s John Wilkinson, elected as board chair for Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance GALEN SIMMONS. Regional Editor With plenty of experience advocating for local health care as a member of pro- vincial parliament, first for the Perth-Mid- dlesex riding and then for Perth-Wel- lington after the boundaries changed, Stratford’s John Wilkinson is now servin; as the chair of the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance (HPHA) board of directors. After the recent annual members meet- ing, the board held its 2024-2025 organi- zational meeting where Wilkinson was elected chair. Having served as chair of the Stratford Perth Community Foundation board prior to joining the HPHA board in 2021 and then serving as vice chair of the HPHA board beginning in 2022, he as- sumed the role of HPHA board chair after past chair Stephen Hearn completed his two-year term in June 2024. “Supporting health care was a big part of my time when I was the local MPP,” Wilkinson said. “That’s a big part of the job for any MPP because health care is something that is provided by the provinc- €s, so you can’t be a provincial politician without spending a great deal of your time dealing with health care. That includes supporting hospitals as a big part of that — many hospitals that were a part of my two ridings — ... so | was used to working with all of my hospitals, including the HPHA. “Being a Stratford native, the Stratford General Hospital has been part of my life and my family’s life — our three kids were born there — and, like almost everybody else in town, we support the hospital.” Wilkinson said his time as the local rep- resentative at Queen’s Park gave him a unique understanding of how the current MPPs for Perth and Huron counties — Mat- thew Rae and Lisa Thompson ~ are able to advocate for local health care and work with the HPHA board and executive team to continually strengthen local health care. One of the major issues the board has been tackling post-pandemic is the ev- er-present need to recruit more staff. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Former Middlesex-Perth and Perth-Welling- ton MPP John Wilkinson has been elected chair of the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance board of directors. Following the burnout of the COVID-19 pandemic for hospital staff, Wilkinson said many — especially those of the ba- by-boomer generation — have opted to re- tire. Coupled with that same generation’s increasing demand for local health-care services, Wilkinson said area hospitals find themselves short staffed, a challenge many if not all hospitals are facing across the country, but one board members are rising to meet. “The entire system doesn’t have enough people, so our job is to make sure that we offer, as an alliance, a wonderful ca- reer and personal-life opportunity for ev- erybody who decides to work for us, and I’m very, very impressed with what our recruitment team has been able to do,” Wilkinson said. “We have people joining the HPHA all the time ... because we’re one of the largest employers, I would say, STRATFORD TIMES STAFF stratfordtimes@gmail.com Throughout the week of July 8-12, the Stratford Police Service has received sev- eral calls regarding a suspected Princess Margaret Hospital Lottery scam. The victims received a phone call from a male claiming to be with Princess Mar- garet Hospital Lottery. The victims were | informed they had won $2.9 million and a Dodge Ram pickup truck. The caller advised he would attend the victim’s res- idence and instructed the victims to have a pre-paid Visa card ready to provide him order to receive their prize. Stratford police issues scam alert make us aware. If any com: None of the victims who contacted police disclosed any further personal in- formation and eee not provide the caller with a pre-} ‘paid Vi Police say it is aise the caller ob- tained information from the phone book about the victims and used this informa- tion to learn their names and addresses. The Stratford Police Service would like to commend the victims for not falling for this scam and for contacting police to munity mem- bers received similar calls of this nature and had a loss of finances, please contact the Stratford Police Service at 519-271- 4141 ext. 2 to file a report. in the region. - We want to provide them an oppor- tunity to find their satisfaction in their ca- reer as a health-care worker right here in our four, local communities and, by and large, we’re doing that.” Wilkinson said that need for satisfaction for employees or potential employees ex- tends beyond their careers and the walls of the four local hospitals. It’s important for the health-care alliance to work with community partners to ensure its staff, es- pecially those trained health-care profes- sionals who have moved here from other countries, feel as though they are part of their communities. Wilkinson also said the board is focused on working with the local high schools to ensure students hoping to work in health care know there is plenty of E Up Orn with the HPHA close to hom: That collaboration betes en commu- nities, the health-care alliance and each of the four local hospital foundations is crucial. "As the chair of the HPHA’s vol- unteer board," Wilkinson said the board needs to support all of the HPHA’s volun- teers, whether they volunteer at the hospi- tals themselves or with the foundations to raise money for necessary equipment and building upgrades, and he encourages ev- eryone to consider volunteering with the health-care alliance in whatever way they can, At its 2024-2025 organizational meet- ing, the board also elected a new vice chair, Greg Stewart, and welcomed two new members, Franklin Famme, lead part- ner of Famme and Co, Professional Com- pany in Stratford, and Bill Whetstone, the commercial lead for Bruce Power and a councillor with the Municipality of Blue- water Bayfield. Famme and Whetstone have replaced outgoing board members Gary Austin and Joe Looby. Famme was also elected as treasurer for the board. Eight community members were also introduced at the annual members meet- ing as having been recently appointed by the board to the HPHA’s board commit- tees. They include: + Joe Adams, St. Marys and area + John Bolton, St. Marys and area + Elizabeth Hill, St. Marys and area + Kevin Hulley, Clinton and area * Wendy Hutton, Seaforth and area + Richard Seip, Seaforth and area * Michael Stilwell, Clinton and area: - Emma Vigil, Stratford and area “The HPHA and those we serve benefit significantly from local volunteer lead- ers who step forward to govern,” said HPHA CEO and president Andrew Wil- liams. “Strong, innovative, accountable, patient-focused, system-first governance is a hallmark of the HPHA, and today’s announcement reinforces this moving for- ward.” Honouring Honouring someone starts the moment we grieve. Sky i A i / Please don’t make the mistake of thinking it has anything to do with money or costs of a funeral. Honouring is personal or it can be shared. 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