Here’s a rare chance to ski one of the area’s finest private slopes and support the Meaford Hospital Foundation. Next Wednesday, ski at Georgian Peaks and $20 of your $50 ticket will go directly to the MHF to support enhanced cancer care facilities in the area.

The Georgian Peaks Club offers some of the most diverse terrain on the Escarpment, ranging from easy to difficult. The 24 trails offer spectacular views of Georgian Bay.

Head out on Wednesday, February 11 and help expand the cancer care services at the Owen Sound Hospital.

The new Don Bumstead and Family Medical Centre held it’s grand opening yesterday, and the building was busy as folks toured the long-anticipated facility adjacent to Meaford Haven.

With the new clinic in place, the effort to attract new doctors to the area is well underway. Both the Meaford and the Blue Mountains clinic, in Thornbury, can support four family physicans, and the Meaford medical centre has already attracted one new family physician to Meaford.

Another established local health services company, Georgian Bay Physiotherapy, is also moving into the clinic.

Progress on Meaford’s new health clinic, the Don Bumstead & Family Medical Centre, continues apace.

Earlier this month, the clinic, which is located next to Meaford Haven, was named in honour of local businessman, Don Bumstead, who donated both cash and the land for the medical centre – amounting to about 50 percent of the projected construction costs. Bumstead, whose Don Bumstead Ford dealership was a Meaford fixture for decades, passed away this March at the age of 92. The donation was one of the last in Bumstead’s long history of contribution to the community, including many years service with the local Rotary Club.

The Municipality of Meaford has pledged $25,000 a year toward the project for 10 years.

And earlier today, organizers raised almost $11,000 in donations at the kick-off to the Centre’s “Buy a Brick” campaign.

With plans to start construction next April and open the clinic by August, organizers have an ambitious fundraising goal of roughly $500,000, and the new campaign hopes to raise a big chunk of that. For $20, you can donate a single brick, or for $50, you contribute three; if you didn’t have a chance to get downtown for the event today, you’ll have opportunities throughout the coming months to purchase bricks at community events. North East Grey Health Clinics is hoping to sell 8,000 before construction starts.

Organizers say the new centre will help Meaford attract younger family doctors, who “prefer to work in a co-operative environment, technologically up-to-date, with shared overhead and other health disciplines available.”

NEGHC and a community recruiting board is already working at finding physicians to set up practices in the medical centre. Visit www.greyhealthclinics.ca.

Meaford’s medical centre is another step closer to opening its doors to doctors and patients, with a commitment of $250,000 over 10 years to North East Grey Health Clinics Inc.

That’s more good news for residents of Meaford Haven’s retirement community, who will appreciate their proximity to physicians and a physiotherapy office at the neighbouring medical centre, as well as immediate access to additional health and medical practitioners and suppliers in the commercial block planned for Meaford Haven. It’s expected the building could be home to such practitioners as a chiropractor, optometrist and dentist, as well as housing a pharmacy, a health food store, and a hearing-aid centre, among others.

Mayor Francis Richards sits on the board of North East Grey Health Clinics. “They have already done a very successful health centre down in the Blue Mountains,” he told Council, adding that he’s looking forward to the opening of the new facility.

North East Grey Health Clinics expects to open the doors of the new Meaford Health Centre within the next year to year and a half.

As Meaford Haven moves ahead in finding and evaluating builders for this unique small town Ontario retirement community, North East Grey Health Clinic is moving full-steam ahead on plans to have Meaford’s new health clinic in operation. Last fall, Desmond von Teichman told Meaford Council that the need for new doctors in Meaford means it’s important to build the $2.1 million clinic sooner than originally planned.

A Meaford property owner has donated land next door to Meaford Haven for the 6,000 square foot clinic, which will be able to accommodate four doctors and a physiotherapist.

“Very simply, and in Thornbury it was proven, without a clinic we’re not going to get new physicians,” von Teichman told council. “Immediately after the [Thornbury] health centre was opened we [leased] every spot in it, and we now instead of two doctors, we have four doctors, and a fully fledged physiotherapy office in there as well.”

In addition to the clinic, Meaford Haven’s plans include a commercial block which will be aimed at offering additional space for health and medical practitioners and suppliers.

Last week, your faithful Meaford Haven blogger was chopping some logs from an old cherry tree we had to take down (soon to be replaced!), when he foolishly attempted to finish a split by holding the maul up near the head and dropping it into the split log. Without gloves.

At first the cut looked minor, and the short, sharp pain wasn’t anything worse than an ordinary DIY mishap. But the pressure of dropping one’s knuckle onto a sharp piece of unrelenting cherry can do a pretty good number on you. I had a deep slice around the bottom of the middle knuckle on my right forefinger.

Being a guy, I tried to manfully deal with it with a Band-Aid or three, but I was having a little trouble getting them on. And the knuckle was getting a little worse to look at. So I called my wife for some assistance. Being not a guy, she immediately said, “We’re going to the hospital.” And so we did.

Here’s why I’m telling you this. Living in Meaford, you tend to take for granted many of the great things we have here… unimaginably beautiful views of Georgian Bay, the rugged Escarpment and rolling hills graced with apple orchards… a wide choice of outdoor recreation all year round… great culture, shopping, entertainment and dining nearby…

And healthcare. With a full-fledged health centre just 20 minutes away in Owen Sound, we’re also fortunate to have our own Meaford hospital right here in town. According to the Grey Bruce Health Services website, “Of all of GBHS’s rural hospitals, Meaford offers the widest range of specialty clinics and services to its community. Specialists from Owen Sound and other larger centres travel to Meaford to offer general surgery, orthopedics, dermatology, plastics and mental health services… The Meaford area has the highest percentage of seniors in Grey and Bruce. The 20-inpatient beds provide access to hospitalization when those seniors and other residents need them.” The site also notes that the hospital has the space and infrastructure to grow.

All of this might be a small part of why Meaford is becoming one of Ontario’s retirement destinations.

Within half an hour of my woodchopping woes, I’d been admitted into Meaford Hospital’s emergency ward and seen by a doctor and nurse. Another half hour later, I was stitched up (six of them!), splinted and heading back home (with a stop at Muxlow’s, Meaford’s pharmacy, for antibiotics). It hardly put a dent in my evening. (Well, I’d sooner not have had to deal with it, but all things considered…)

More info on Meaford Hospital.

Thought we’d do a quick round up of some of the interest generated by Meaford Haven’s recent Open House.  Meaford Haven’s vision of a unique retirement community in the beautiful Southern Georgian Bay area is just beginning to catch the attention of folks ’round here.  Here are a few recent notices.

The Meaford Independent

“Boiron calls Meaford Haven a “three seasons” community because it provides for three stages of retirement, from active retirees, to those who are “settling in” but still want to live independently, to people who are looking for assisted living. Cluster bungalows, mid-rise condominiums and senior apartments provide for each of these stages and allow residents to remain in the same community as their needs change.”

www.themeafordindependent.ca/business/business-news/1346-sneak-peek-at-a-meaford-qthree-seasons-communityq

The Meaford Express

“The developers have also thrown their hat into the ring to be the site of a new community family health centre in Meaford. The proposal includes a commercial portion at the front of the property on the highway that could potentially host the health centre. In addition to the health centre, the proponents of the development are also suggesting that the commercial portion of the project could host offices for dentists, wellness practitioners and would have enough space for a full service pharmacy, convenience store and dry cleaners.

“‘It’s going to change Meaford,’ said development President Pierre Boiron. ‘We’re appealing to retirees, quiet people that don’t have a mortgage. Here all they will have is the monthly fee,’ he told The Express at the open house.

“The property includes a number of environmental features including two streams, butternut trees and a large forest area.”

www.simcoe.com/community/georgianbay/article/996612

Inside Collingwood and Blue Mountain

“[Meaford] is one heck of a pretty little Town.  It surely has one of the nicest trail systems in the area and the best waterfront access of any community in South Georgian Bay.  Driving in from the east, you cross a bridge over the Bighead River and view Georgian Bay straight ahead… [Meaford Haven] includes plans for up to 400 units of  mixed-use housing including bungalows, apartments, condominiums, assisted living/long-term care units and a commercial component including health centre and recreation facilities

blog.collingwood-bluemountain.com/meaford-haven/