‘Do the right thing’
Dear Editor:
RE: Elora builder voids contracts; 32 buyers left without a home, Jan. 26.
I find it disgusting that Gemini Homes has voided contracts with 32 home buyers in the South River development.
They cite that conditions were not met with regards to hard services not being completed by Jan. 13. The letter explaining that their contract was terminated was sent to purchasers after hours on Jan. 18 without any previous warnings.
Gemini general manager Brad Crnkovic explained there were several reasons that led to the delays that caused the contracts to be automatically terminated. The one that stands out to me is “severe weather conditions last year”.
If the weather was a concern last year why didn’t Gemini advise the purchasers of this and extend their closing dates? They could have also amended the Jan. 13 date to a mutually agreed date. Why isn’t the other builder in the project (Granite Homes) having these issues or could their purchasers receive an email some evening in the future?
Centre Wellington Mayor Kelly Linton could only say that he feels bad for the home buyers. That’s it? This situation should be a top priority. Everyone seems to be pointing the finger elsewhere. Gemini blames the township. The township says not my problem, talk to the developer (Haylock).
It seems to me that Gemini is trying to get more money out of these purchasers, especially the early buyers. They have seen the cost of their model types increase in price by as much as 50%. I can only imagine what the prices will be in the second phase.
Do the right thing, Gemini.
Greg Manson,
Elora
‘A right to know’
Dear Editor:
During the last two years the ups and downs of the government have been at times frustrating and incomprehensible for the people of Ontario.
However, the pandemic is an unprecedented situation to deal with, so we have to sympathize and give our governments credit for doing the best job they can do under the circumstances.
But the latest move on the part of our premier, after having stated just a week or so before that we have a “tsunami” of cases and we must once again put the children’s schooling back on line, safe at home until the cases go down again. Okay. Good idea.
But then, with cases still rapidly on the rise, we are told that not only were our children and grandchildren going back to school on Jan. 17, but the case reports in our local paper every week (concerning schools, hospitals, long-term care homes, workplaces and other institutions), which teachers, parents, nurses and everyone else rely on to be educated on whether or not their schools, hospitals, long-term care homes and workplaces are a safe place to be in for six to eight hours a day, have been vetoed by the very man who said that there was a “tsunami” of cases, which there still are!
And, shockingly, if there are cases in a classroom, there will be no classroom closures!
But we will all be kept in the dark, because apparently, it has been decreed that it is none of our business.
We, the people in Ontario, have a right to know what is going on with this disease that is affecting all of us.
Christy Doraty,
Fergus
Tests contaminated?
Dear Editor:
An open letter to Peter Sovran, director of education with the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB).
I am a parent and taxpayer who’s very concerned about the UGDSB’s redistribution of the government’s SARS-CoV-2-testing devices (otherwise known as rapid test kits).
In a Jan. 14 interview for CBC.ca, you stated that “We have a number of staff beginning the process of taking apart those 25 per package and reassembling them into single units so that we can get them out to the schools…”
According to the Government of Canada, COVID testing devices are labeled as a Class IV In-Vitro Medical Device. Everything from the licensing of such devices to the packaging is strictly regulated at the federal level.
Part 1, Section 16 (b) of the Medical Devices Regulations states, “The design, manufacture and packaging of a medical device shall minimize any risk to a patient, user or other person from reasonably foreseeable hazards, including: (b) presence of a contaminant or chemical or microbial residue.”
Section 17 goes on to state, “A medical device that is to be sold in a sterile condition shall be manufactured and sterilized under appropriately controlled conditions, and the sterilization method used shall be validated.”
Validation, according to regulations, means, “Confirmation by examination and the provision of objective evidence that the requirements for a specific intended use have been fulfilled, as set out in the definition validation in section 2.18 of International Organization for Standardization standard ISO 8402:1994, Quality management and quality assurance-Vocabulary…”
Prior to the Christmas break, my children’s school provided the box of five SARS-CoV-2 rapid test kits. Both boxes were sealed and all the subsequent pieces of the test kit (minus the tube stand, package insert and Procedure Card) were in their own sealed bags within the sealed box.
I guess my questions to you, Mr. Sovran, are:
1. How is your board guaranteeing a sterile environment when you are opening a sealed medical testing device and redistributing them to the families that support this board?
2. What appropriate controlled sterile conditions are you and your staff adhering to?
3. Who is validating/overseeing said sterile conditions from the federal government?
4. How are you guaranteeing there is no contaminants being added to rapid test kits?
If Part 1, Section 16 (b) of the Medical Devices Regulations states that the whole point of packaging and sealing the rapid test kits is to minimize risk to a patient, user or other person from reasonably foreseeable hazards such as contaminants, how does it make sense for school boards to break that seal, repackage the medical device using “a number of staff” and then hand it out to students to take home?
Any medical professional will tell you that if a seal is broken – especially on a medical device that deals with biologicals (in-vitro), you should not use it. From what I can see, this is no different.
If I am interpreting this wrong, I would welcome an explanation.
Paul Johnson,
Ariss
Caregivers, advocates
Dear Editor:
Most of us have to deal with the death of a loved one in our life.
It is a situation very hard to deal with, may this be through natural death, accident or sickness. Many questions arise when it happens at a hospital because of lack of oxygen and the patient goes into a coma and passes away two days later.
I wrote and called the hospital and eight weeks after my husband passed away I finally received a phone call from the hospital with some explanations. A failure in communication was one big problem but so was the unbelievable tragedy the way my husband was cared for by some of the nurses.
I also believe strongly if a patient is handicapped as my husband was – he could not read or write, could not speak or walk nor push the call button – the monitor in the room should be on all the time for their safety. In this case the monitor was not on and no one could see the oxygen level going down and the patient going into a coma. Would the monitor have been on this might have been prevented.
What happened in the past cannot be changed, but I strongly hope issues like these can be changed hoping something good can come out of this. Caregivers must be advocates for their loved ones.
Herta Wunder,
Elora
‘Broken system’
Dear Editor:
My father was discharged from a local hospital on Dec. 17.
When discharged he signed a contract with the LHIN/Healthcare at Home/CCAC (there name has changed so much over the last few years) for eight hours of PSW service a day (the LHIN/CCAC/ Healthcare at Home get you to sign the contract – well actually a 76-year-old senior – with an outside service provider).
We asked knowing that we are in a PSW shortage/healthcare crisis will there be many days PSWs do not show up. The discharge planner said they may not show up due to bad weather or sick days.
Well, since Dec. 17 my father has had about 14 PSWs in to do those eight-hour shifts (he is supposed to receive these service as he is on the crisis list for LTC and their are no available beds).
It is now Jan. 24. I have called and lodged a complaint with the LHIN/CCAC/Healthcare at Home. My complaint is why not be honest and tell the family that a PSW may not show up for weeks due to the PSW shortage. Why does the discharge planner promote a program when they know their are no PSWs to provide the service?
My mom has caregiver burnout, my father has Parkinson’s dementia and I have been his primary care provider since his discharge (I also work a full-time job in health care). I am fine with providing him care as he is my father but I question where is all the money that is allocated for my father’s care going?
Why do they not pay me and I would gladly quit my job to provide care for him. I am seeking other family members whose loved one has had missed care from the PSW services promised by the LHIN/CCAC/Healthcare at Home.
I know there are many of you out there whose loved one is not getting promised care service provided after hospital discharge. Please reach out to me fromthevalley10@hotmail.com I would love to hear from you.
This system has been broken for many years and needs to be changed. How many seniors are going home that do not have a voice like me (advocating for their parents)?
How many seniors have been sitting at home for weeks with no care, no check in, no showers?
We need to make our voice heard about a broken system that has not worked for years.
Cindy Webster,
Grand Valley