Addington Highlands Sets Priorities In Strategy Meeting

Craig Bakay | Mar 15, 2023

Health Services (including doctor recruitment) emerged as the No. 1 priority as Addington Highlands Council met in a special meeting to hold a strategic planning ranking exercise March 7 in Flinton.

Affordable Housing and Emergency Services, Management and Planning were tied for second followed by (in descending order of priority) Public Safety and Security (3), Communication (4), Roads and Waste (5), Economic Development (6), Cell Coverage and Broadband (7), Organizational Structure and Staffing (8), Community Facilities, Parks and Recreation (9), Short Term Rentals (10) and Tax Rate (11).

For the rankings, each councilor, including the Reeve, was asked to rank each category from 1-12 and then the votes were totaled up. The categories with the highest totals were ranked lowest and vice versa.

Within each category, several sub-categories were established and discussed with the eventual goal being an action plan and timeline.

Discussions began with Health Services, it being the highest priority, and within that, successfully recruiting additional physicians was the most popular discussion topic.

“I think everyone knows it’s not a matter of money,” said Councillor Ken Hook. “We have one of the most generous packages for attracting a new doctor here of anywhere in the province.

“I think there are a lot of things we can do that won’t cost a lot of money.”

“Everybody says it’s hard to get doctors but if you don’t try, you’re not going to get one,” said Councillor Kirby Thompson.

“It’s really a matter of support,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. “We’re (Council) not going to hire a doctor — the health team is the lead agency there.”

Council agreed they needed to meet with Lakelands Family Health Team executive director Jan Powell for direction on how they can assist in the doctor recruitment process.

“We have to do whatever we can to support their recruitment efforts because we all know how intense the competition for medical personnel and doctors is,” said Dep. Reeve Tony Fritsch. “(But) all it would take is one little coincidental connection to be the catalyst.”

“It’s a matter of reaching those people and explaining the advantages and lifestyle we have here and making sure they’re aware of it,” said Hook.

“I don’t want to be negative here but I think it’s going to be a hard sell,” said Councillor Helen Yanch.

Council then discussed providing and maintaining facilities for health care.

Under Affordable Housing it was agreed that the need for increased options, especially for seniors, was desirable. To that end, Council agreed to meet with Prince Edward Lennox and Addington Social Services to discuss what might be possible.

“We do have a homelessness survey on our (Township) Facebook page,” said Hook.

Council also agreed that they needed to know if land was available should an appropriate opportunity arise.

Emergency Services, Management and Planning had the most subheadings of any category, including updating the public version of the Emergency Preparedness Plan, 72-hour awareness (ie being prepared to exist alone for 72 hours), an updated brochure, shelters, improved communications, ambulance base retention, fire department retention, lobbying.

The development of a vulnerable citizens list was also discussed.

It was agreed that consultation with Land O’Lakes Community Services was needed for such a list

“The idea isn’t a bad idea but what would’ve worked 15 years ago won’t work now,” said Fritsch. “You also have to know what you’re going to do with that list.”

“And how to keep it up to date,” said Hogg.

“Not everybody wants their name on that list, even though they might be vulnerable,” said Yanch.