Roses and Thorns: Of health care and sexual abuse

ROSE: To Niagara Health, which marked the fifth anniversary of the opening of its St. Catharines hospital site on Wednesday. The no-longer-new hospital and its opening marked a milestone in the delivery of health care in Niagara, and while there was controversy surrounding the process which led to its establishment and much angst across the region about its location, the reality of the hospital has stripped away those criticisms. It was a much-needed renewal and upgrade to existing hospitals and provides additional services which, prior top its opening, were not available in this region, such as treatments at the Walker Family Cancer Centre. “The hospital has been the catalyst for a number of significant enhancements to patient care,” said Suzanne Johnson, Niagara Health president, who noted cancer patients no longer have to travel beyond Niagara, journeys that could take hours. “It’s profound – it’s making all the difference for people in their journey.” The St. Catharines hospital also shines a light on the path forward for the health system which has plans to build a new hospital in Niagara Falls and either build a new hospital or upgrade its site in Welland.

THORN: To St. John Ambulance for its inability to resolve issues surrounding the therapy dog program in St. Catharines. The program, which sees volunteers bring therapy dogs to schools, seniors’ homes and a large number of other facilities and groups, was shut down earlier this month after the organization and its volunteers couldn’t come to an agreement on how to keep the program running. In 2017, the program’s volunteer leadership team says it had to provide 3,900 hours of administrative work. The volunteers asked St. John Ambulance for staff assistance and when that request was denied, the 10-member leadership team resigned. “We joined to help people with our dogs, and this was becoming too much,” said Lori Thwaites, a former member of the leadership team. St. John’s needs to find a way to lighten the load for these volunteers, either through reducing the administrative work or providing some staffing.

ROSE and THORN: To Niagara Region – the Rose is for backing down and avoiding an unnecessary confrontation with Pelham Thursday night. Regional council had been set to debate whether the Region should sign a letter acknowledging its intent to follow through on a deal to finance Pelham's new $36-million community centre. The debate would have been the latest instalment in the running battle between the Region and town over funding for the project. Regional Chair Alan Caslin, reading from a prepared statement, said the Pelham debt item had been removed from the agenda because there was “no decision point” to be made. “We were informed by Infrastructure Ontario today that they do not require any action by Niagara Region or council at this time,” Caslin read. The Thorn is for the Region’s original intent to further obstruct the financing of this project. We are left wondering what exactly Infrastructure Ontario had to say.

THORN: To former priest and convicted sexual abuser Donald Grecco, for continuing to put his victims through hell. Grecco, 77, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison Oct. 23, 2017 for abusing William O’Sullivan and two other victims from 1975 to 1982, has applied for early parole, meaning he could be on the street following a parole hearing in April.

ROSE: To Standard reporter Grant LaFleche, for being nominated for a National Newspaper Award, for the series he wrote last year Wolf in Priest’s clothing. The NNA’s are the Oscars for Canada’s newspaper industr. The series, about the above-mentioned Grecco, has also received a nomination for an Ontario Newspaper Award. This is LaFleche’s third NNA nomination, an indication of the integrity and thoroughness he brings to his profession.