Health Care Promises

NS: Premier promises better healthcare soon
By Staff, Transcontinental Media

Source: The Daily Business Buzz, Dec. 7/10

[HALIFAX, NS] – Premier Darrell Dexter and Minister of Health Maureen MacDonald have unveiled the government’s latest plan for improving this province’s medical system.

The strategy, dubbed the Better Care Sooner Plan, was announced today and promises to improve the quality of emergency care, reduce overcrowding and wait times for patients in emergency rooms, and provide better health care for families.

To accomplish all this, the government is leaning heavily on the report submitted by Dr. John Ross on the state of Nova Scotia’s emergency care delivery and what needs to be done to fix it. Taking its cue from Ross’ recommendations, the new strategy focuses on several over-arching themes:
• Improve access to primary care, especially in smaller communities. The goal here is to lessen the burden on emergency rooms and provide better care.
• Make emergency care more patient-centred and streamlined, thus shortening wait times and improving the quality of care across the province.
• Provide care that’s better tailored to those whose needs are more complex (i.e. seniors and people with mental illness).
• Increase public awareness of 911 and healthlink nurse line 811.

“This plan keeps emergency rooms open and gives communities access to emergency care day and night,” Dexter claims. “Communities that once had closed doors will soon have services matched to their needs. It will ensure people in this province get the level of care they need and deserve.”

Keeping ERs open was a key plank in the NDP’s election platform. To finally deliver on the promise, Dexter is announcing the formation of new collaborative emergency centres, which will match the level of services with the needs of residents in the community. Patients will have access to a team of health-care professionals including nurses, doctors and paramedics to provide the level of care that’s required. That will enable patients to get same or next day appointments.

“We want patients to be able to see their doctor more quickly and get better care from health care teams, so they can avoid going to an emergency room,” MacDonald says. “For those who do require emergency care, we want their journey through the emergency department to be as short, safe and comfortable as possible. That’s what Better Care Sooner is all about.”

Cape Breton District Health Authority CEO John Malcom welcomes the province’s effort to unclog crowded emergency rooms.

“In order to improve emergency care in Nova Scotia, we need to enhance things outside of the hospital – primary care, access to 911, access to 811 – so there’s a variety of options to respond to patients needs,” Malcom says.

Other planned actions under the new strategy include:
• Every regional hospital must develop a plan to shorten time frames for moving patients from ambulance into hospital and from triage to a hospital bed or departure.
• Health professionals will be supported in working to the full extent of their training, abilities and experience.
• Patients will get more information and be made more comfortable as they wait.
• More nurse practitioners are being hired to work in nursing homes and paramedics will provide more care for seniors in nursing homes and at home so they will not have to got to emergency.
• A public education campaign will be launched so people will have a greater understanding of 811 nurse line and 911 paramedics.
• Paramedics will get additional training and equipment to enhance their life-saving skills. This includes training to deliver a clot-busting drug for heart attack patients.
• Dedicating a plane and a new two-stretcher ambulance to save valuable driving time for paramedics and transport patients comfortably and cost-effectively.
• Health-care funding will be changed to reward better health results for patients.

The Sunset Falls on Digby Neck

Poppy Balser Fine Art
Poppy Balser - Work Detail: Digby Windfarm Sunset
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Digby Windfarm Sunset
Watercolor on Paper
7" x 10"
$285.00 USDAvailable

Click to zoom in
Contact the artist about this artwork

I was asked to paint the Digby Neck Windfarm, a new development of renewable energy. This was one of my preliminary studies. It shows only 7 of 20 absolutely HUGE turbines that have been erected facing the Bay of Fundy. There was no way to portray all of them in one painting.

Via NSP

Digby Neck Wind Farm Open House Event
by Robin 5. December 2010 05:27

Earlier today, several NS Power employees including myself, CEO Rob
Bennett and Project Manager Sean Brennan welcomed local residents to an open house event at the Digby Neck Wind Farm.

The Wind Farm consists of 20, 1.5 megawatt General Electric turbines that can power 10,000 homes at full capacity. A 17 km transmission line was constructed to connect the Wind Farm to the electric grid along with a 7 km on-site collector system that collects energy from the turbines and transmits it to a substation.

The Wind Farm has been of interest to local communities since it was proposed several years ago and has attracted greater attention as construction progressed, especially since turbines began rising over the last few months. With the Wind Farm’s formal commissioning coming soon, 16 of 20 turbines already producing electricity and colder weather on the horizon, it was about time to invite residents in for a tour.

Over 100 people joined us today to learn about various aspects of the Wind Farm such as how the turbines were erected and how much energy they produce. Bus tours stopped at various locations to chat and review information about the Wind Farm and provide the opportunity to engage with attendees and hear their questions, comments and concerns. It was great to have so many people spend part of their day with us at the event. I was also pleased to see representatives from Scotian WindFields – the company originally involved with the project – also come out for the event. I suppose it didn’t hurt to see the weather hold out for us as well.

To commemorate the construction of the Wind Farm, local artist Poppy Balser provided us with a wonderful watercolour painting of three of the turbines, titled Winds of Change: Leaving a Legacy of Cleaner Energy. Open house attendees were each given a post card with an image of the painting as a thank you for lending us part of their Saturday afternoon at the event. The Wind Farm watercolour is only one example of Poppy’s talent, so be sure to check out her web site at www.poppybalser.com to see other paintings in her portfolio.

We’ve uploaded some photos from today’s event to our Flickr page, so feel free to browse through the album to the right. You can also check out photos from the Nuttby Mountain open house event a few weeks ago, along with artist Janice Guinan’s rendition of that Wind Farm, titled Dawn of a New Day.

As a final note in this post, I’d like to congratulate Sean and the entire project team for working safely on an important project that will truly benefit all Nova Scotians for years to come.

Thanks for reading.

- Robin

ADEDA News

Ferry Funding
There was finally some good news last week with regard to the continuance of ferry service between Digby and Saint John, New Brunswick.

The Government of Canada announced an investment funding program that would support specific ferry services in Atlantic Canada for a three year period to March 31, 2014.
Among the services to receive that support was our vital Fundy service.

The decision by the federal government was welcomed by the Bay of Fundy Transportation Coalition’s Chair Jim Thurber who said “This is a very encouraging decision that will allow us the time we need to make the business case, garner the support and pursue our ultimate goals of a longer term commitment and the new vessel this service needs”.

The Coalition is comprised of businesses and organizations representing fisheries, trucking, tourism, economic development, local government, boards of trade and environmental stewardship located in southwest Nova Scotia, and has been pushing hard for a long term commitment for the ferry service.

The Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency (ADEDA) has been the coordinating organization for the Coalition since its inception and ADEDA Managing Director Mike Gushue expressed his appreciation for the government’s decision, saying “This shows what can be achieved when everyone in the community works diligently and responsibly towards a common purpose”. He also cited the strong support given at all levels by the area’s Member of Parliament, Greg Kerr. Commendably, Kerr moved quickly to meet with business and public representatives – and then with the Coalition – over the weekend to provide further background on the announcement and discuss the community’s “go forward” strategy. (And a “shout out” of appreciation to Bay Ferries’ Mike Adams for helping to make the facilities at the ferry terminal available and so pleasant for the meeting).

The Coalition has particularly emphasized the importance of the Digby to Saint John service to our region’s $600 million annual seafood industry.

Across the Bay the federal funding decision was also being hailed by supporters in Saint John, led by Mayor Ivan Court who has maintained that “The ferry system is part of the transportation system of Canada” and adding “it should be considered in the road system, the bridge system whatever else”.

Switched On
In his 1963 classic “Blowin’ In The Wind” iconic folkie Bob Dylan ambiguously suggests the answers to some of life’s key issues might be obviously in front of our respective noses, or as ephemeral as the wind.

Well, there’s nothing ambiguous about the effects of the breezes blowing through Nova Scotia Power’s Digby Neck wind farm. It’s now open with 10 of the 20 turbines in operation. I had a chance to tour the facility last week with NSP’s genial and very knowledgeable Project Manager, Sean Brennan, and was honestly impressed with the scope of the project – and the environmental as well as operational foresight that went into its planning. NSP also hosted a public open house at the site over the weekend to allow the community to see firsthand what’s taking place.

Riding The Renewable Energy Wave
The opening of that 30 megawatt wind farm on Digby Neck was just part of the renewable energy news that continues to focus on our area and the Fundy region in general. The provincial Energy Department has announced that it had received five responses to a call for expression of interest looking for a fourth tidal power developer in the Bay of Fundy. The bids came from companies in Canada, the United States and the UK.

The Sports Page
And, hey, we’re not all transportation analysts or renewable energy wonks around here. We like our recreational opportunities as well. And a national near miss and a national sure thing highlighted Annapolis Digby doings from the world of sports this past week. In their new book “Lawrencetown is ‘Our Hockeyville’”, veteran authors Dave and Paulette Whitman document the charming story of how a long shot community from the Annapolis Valley came “this close” to earning the title of Canada’s “Hockeyville” for this year. If there’s a wonderful holiday read to be had – it’s here – and by the way the Whitman’s will be at the Lawrencetown fire hall this weekend, December 11th, to sign copies of the book. Meanwhile at the other end of our coverage area, the folks in Digby are getting ready to host the event that didn’t get away. In a few months teams from across Canada will be “hurrying hard” to the Digby Curling Club for the national mens and womens senior championships. The event is already causing excitement within the local curling communities – and with sports buffs in general. But volunteers are still needed to help make it the success we all want. There’s more information available and a number to call if you want to be part of this national bonspiel.

Ah Shucks!
I know I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions my admiration for the hard work ethic exhibited daily by my doughty small band of coworkers here at ADEDA. However, if they have a failing perhaps it’s their intrinsic modesty in the performance of their tasks – something not shared, of course, by “moi”. That’s why I think it’s great when their work gets recognized by the local business community.

Playing with a Full House
They may have to consider replacing the winter storm doors with revolving doors at the ADEDA office on December 16th when we host two major workshops at our facilities. There’re two wonderful opportunities to develop your business communications acumen for artists and crafters at the ACTS workshop; and hone yourself in the craft of business writing at the business writing basics workshop. Hmmmm…probably should consider enrolling in that one myself.

Till next week;

Peter

Peter MacLellan
Annapolis Digby EDA
86 Atlantic Avenue
PO Box 271
Cornwallis, Nova Scotia
Canada B0S 1H0

Tel: (902) 638-3490
Fax: (902) 638-8106
E: communications@annapolisdigby.com

We invite you to visit us anytime at www.annapolisdigby

Our Whale Resource

What whales are telling us about the Earth
By reese halter

Posted: 12/02/2010 11:27:31 PM PST
Updated: 12/02/2010 11:27:34 PM PST


Last year, Iceland and Norway killed 688 whales while Japan, under the guise of "scientific research," slaughtered 1,000 whales. In the 20th century humans decimated the whale populations around the globe by 1.5 million animals.

Interestingly, the message from "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" -- that to save the Earth, whales must be protected -- seems more valid now than ever before.

Reports from the last couple of months clearly showed that the whales are helping researchers determine atmospheric science, Arctic oceanography, the extent of global warming, marine food-web nutrition and record-breaking migration patterns. Incidentally, all of these fascinating discoveries are taking place on frugal scientific budgets.

Workers from the Zoological Society of London and Queen Mary University recently examined 156 blue, fin and sperm whales swimming in the Gulf of California -- a United Nations World Heritage site. The whales are showing the scientists that the hole in the ozone layer is getting worse, allowing lethal UV radiation to penetrate Earth's protective ozone shield and cause skin cancers and cataracts.

From high-resolution photographs and studying whale skin samples, they have concluded that the whales are becoming sunburned during the time they are spending at the surface.

Blue whales, which have fairer skin than most whales, suffered significantly more than the much darker fin whales. And sperm whales, which spend a


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considerable amount of time on the surface breathing and socializing for hours at a time, were also vulnerable to sun damage.

The study found that the lesions and sunburnt cells on blue whales had worsened considerably from an earlier survey in 2007.

Since the hole in the Antarctic ozone layer was first discovered in the 1970s, ozone levels have shrunk by up to 70 percent in the worst seasons. Although the CFCs, which damage the ozone level, were banned in 1987, ozone levels are not expected to recover until about 2050.

In fact, UV radiation is expected to increase by 4 percent in the tropics and 20 percent in the poles over the next few decades. At this point in time scientists are not clear whether various life-threatening cancers will develop on whales exposed to high levels of UV radiation.

One thing is for certain: People spending time outdoors must wear sunscreen and protective eyewear.

Researchers from Harvard University and the University of Vermont have found that humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine carry massive quantities of nitrogen from the deep sea, where they feed, to the surface, and release it in their liquid-like feces. Essentially, humpbacks function as an "upward biological pump."

It turns out that humpbacks contribute more nitrogen to the Gulf of Maine than all the local rivers combined, an estimated 25,000 tons, annually.

In turn, these nutrients allow more phytoplankton to grow, which increases the food supply at the base of the marine food web, therefore promoting bigger fisheries and higher abundance where whales occur in greater densities.

Clearly, it is erroneous to claim, as the three whaling countries tout, that whales compete with their commercial fisheries; rather, they enhance them.

Last month, scientists from the College of the Atlantic in Maine, browsing the photo-sharing site Flickr, found identification markings on a humpback tail or fluke in a photo taken by a Norwegian tourist whale-watching at the breeding grounds near Ile Sainte Marie off the east coast of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean, in 2001.

Two years previous, that female was pictured in the breeding grounds off Abrolhos, an area of small volcanic islands along the southern Brazilian coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

The female humpback whale swam at least 6,125 miles, or nearly a quarter of the globe; it was the longest documented movement by a mammal ever recorded.

Until now, humpback migration patterns were believed to be north/south rather than east/west. Was she responding to a distant complex song, following prey, exploring new breeding habitats? Or was she simply wandering as whales are so perfectly engineered for? We have a lot to learn from our cetacean friends.

The iconic, spiraled tooth (or tusk) narwhals, permanent residents of the high Arctic, possess brain-to-body sizes just slightly smaller than humans. These extraordinary beauties of a beast dive greater than one mile in pitch-dark icy Arctic water, relying upon echolocation or sonar to hunt Greenland halibut during the winter. They spend up to three hours a day at least a half a mile from the surface, exquisitely adapted to over 80 atmospheres of pressure.

Oceanographers from the University of Washington and Greenland's Institute of Natural Resources tagged 14 adult narwhals with sensors and determined that the temperature of the Arctic Ocean was almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than previously thought.

The Arctic is warming at an unprecedented rate. In the 1980s, the Arctic contained about 386,000 square miles of ice that was at least five years old. At the end of September 2010, only 22,000 square miles of such older, thicker ice remains. The Arctic has lost 97 percent of the thicker year-round ice that existed just three decades ago.

Not only are the whales helping us determine how quickly global warming is occurring, they're also helping to determine the extent of the hole in the ozone layer. In addition, since 40 percent of the ocean's phytoplankton is missing from warming ocean temperatures and ocean acidification, the whales are crucial in their role to fertilize the oceans and replenish phytoplankton -- the base of the entire marine food web.

In 2008, 13 million people from 119 countries paid $2.1 billion to see the whales. Around the globe, whale-watching tourism is growing at 10 percent per annum. It's time now to end the whale hunt and grant amnesty to magnificent creatures that are helping us survive on our blue planet.

Reese Halter is a conservation biologist at Cal Lutheran University, public speaker and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. Follow him at twitter.com/DrReeseHalter

Craft Fair

Digby Neck fire hall Dec. 11, 9 am to 3pm Come one come all! Get your Christmas shopping done!

Communications Technology

Telecom companies look to profit in 2011
By Staff, The Canadian Press

Source: The Canadian Press - Decemer 2, 2010

[OTTAWA, ONT] - The introduction of new consumer technology and cost cutting will lead Canada’s telecom industry to a profitable 2010 but earnings are expected to stagnate in 2011 as competition heats up, according to a report by the Conference Board of Canada.Industry profit is expected to increase 11.6 per cent this year to $7.5 billion, but more competition will limit the ability of wireless providers to raise their prices, the report released Thursday said.

“All in all, telecom providers are benefiting from strong demand from both consumers and businesses but their pricing power is growing steadily weaker as competition increases,” conference board economist Maxim Armstrong said in his report.

The sluggish economic recovery made it harder for telecom providers to attract new clients or convince existing customers to expand their service, he said.

But lower costs and continued demand for products like digital TV and smartphones helped to keep the telecom industry growing when most other industries were in recession, Armstrong said.

The report noted that four new wireless players - Wind Mobile, Mobilicity, Public Mobile and Quebecor’s Videotron - entered the wireless market.

“The result for the industry as a whole is that increased competition will bring prices and profit margins down,” the report said. “In reaction to the new entrants’ arrival, most companies have eliminated network fees and made new types of packages available.”

The report also noted the influence of the Internet and improved networks with traditional telecom providers trying to adapt by adding content and more flexibility to their on-demand services.

“In the coming years, demand for telecom services is expected to continue to increase at a solid pace.”