The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Uptown community relieved over support for medium density housing The community in uptown Waterloo can begin to sigh some relief now. On Monday city council unanimously approved a plan that requests the region designate the area that surrounds the townâ€" homes on William, Caroline, Park and Allen Streets as medium density residential, which would allow for buildings up to six storeys in height { the Catalina townhome Icommunily gets their way with regional counâ€" cil, there will be no 25â€" storey buildings popping up on their block. Under this designation the neighbouring lands could still be considered high density because. according to the city‘s Height and Density policy, medium density and height density are compatible next to one another. Looking For a New or Preâ€"owned BMW www.bkmotorsqroup.com Noel Robinson didn‘t mind giving his twoâ€"yearâ€"old son Jared a helping hand while the youngster enjoyed a bow! of soup at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario‘s annual Hearty Soup Lunch, held Friday at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex The event kicked off February Heart Month. aunera aan be esnt By Jason Mippieton For The Chronicle A hearty hand Dick Tyssen, a represenâ€" tative from the Catalina townhome community, said, "What we have experiâ€" enced is democracy in action. The municipal govâ€" ernment taking the conâ€" cerns of their citizens seriâ€" ously." On Jan. 19 an informal public meeting was held on the Height and Density poliâ€" cy bylaws. At that meeting, Tyssen spoke on behalf of the townâ€" home community and made their issue known. "This recommenâ€" dation will give the residents of Catalina the peace of mind that they have been seeking." Jane Lockhart Shares the Secrets of Colour and Design â€" Dick Tyssen concerned citizen Colour Confidential This is a lively discussion of current trends in colour and design, developing colour palettes . and how to put them to work in and aroun?your home WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11th Since the meeting counâ€" cilors and city staff have met with the residents of the Catalina complex, and regional planning staff have been made aware of the sitâ€" uation. "This recommendation will give the residents of Catalina the peace of mind that they have been seekâ€" ing," said Tyssen. In 1997 a part of the old Labatts brewery site was redesignated from an indusâ€" trial zoning to residential, thus creating the Catalina community. The designation zoned the lands medium density and multiple residence. The previous council adopted the Height and Density policy last fall and the townhome community was changed to a highâ€"denâ€" sity zoning which could house a 25â€"storey building. Tyssen said, "The previâ€" ous council didn‘t give a damn about the citizens. You can quote me on that." Waterloo Inn, Waterloo 7:00pm â€" 9: 30pm PAGE 3 ANDREA BAILEY PROTC Changes could endanger patients, say local doctors atient safety will be threatened if proâ€" Pposed changes to the delivery of surgiâ€" cal services are implemented, says a group of local doctors. Dr. Peter Schuringa, a local orthopedic surgeon, sent out the warning last Thursday on behalf of the surgery and anesthesiology departments at Grand River Hospital and St. Mary‘s Hospital. They were responding to changes related to the distribution of surgical services at Grand River Hospital and St. Mary‘s Hospital that came out of the final directives of the Dennis Timbrell report, a provincial investiâ€" gator brought in by the Ministry of Health last July to work out the division of services between the hospitals after more than five years of impasse on making those changes. Timbrell released his final report in November, giving local hospitals a month to respond. While some of the concerns raised by the two hospitals were addressed last week, Schuringa said local doctors are worâ€" ried about some of the changes that are still in the final plan. "Several of the specialists submitted writâ€" ten concerns to Timbrell that this doesn‘t work," said Schuringa. "In fact in the latest version that came out last week, called the appendix. worsens things even more." The Timbrell report indicates that all dayâ€" time elective surgery in the specialties of ophthalmology, otolaryngology, plastic surâ€" gery, and urology, as well as almost all adult daytime elective orthopedic surgery, will be performed at St. Mary‘s. But that means these specialties will be expected to provide emergency surgery at Grand River Hospital in an operating room where there will be no familiarity or expertâ€" ise or adequate instrumentation for proceâ€" dures. Schuringa said this will create a direct threat to patient safety. e "We have to have to have the ability to book the procedures in a reasonable manâ€" ner, and have the resources available in order to do that," he said. "The current redisâ€" tribution as proposed by the report from the Ministry of Health really makes that diffiâ€" cult." Schuringa, who specializes in child orthoâ€" pedic surgery, said it will be virtually imposâ€" sible for most of the specialties affected by the changes to provide surgical services to children in this community any longer under the new guidelines. "It makes so much more sense for patient access for us to be in one place, where we can develop a level of expertise and always have the surgeons available," said Schuringa. The solution local doctors proposed is the establishment of a single site for the delivery of all orthopedic surgery, maximizâ€" ing accessibility to the onâ€"call surgeon at all times. By Bos Vrranac Chronicle Staff . That also led the doctors to suggest the § establishment of a single hospital board and 3 single hospital administration to operate § both facilities. They suggest this would eltimiâ€" p nate duplication and focus all of the hospiâ€" tals‘ administrative energy in care for patients, while freeing up millions of dollars in scarce resources to provide for direct patient care. "It wasn‘t the patients they were thinking of when they proposed these changes," said Schuringa of both hospitals. "The process should serve the patients. "That‘s what this should be about â€" the realignment of services â€" it should be about how we meet the needs of our patients betâ€" ter; not give the hospitals the services they want to provide." "We don‘t gain anything from it other than to serve the patients better. While the Ministry said that Timbrell is still open to local physicians‘ concerns, local hospitals are also trying to be responsive. "We‘re trying to turn those recommendaâ€" tions into plans with the least impact on our staff," said St. Mary‘s Hospital spokesman Peter Sweeney. our focal point. "In terms of single administration and single board we have had three separate third party reviews and none of them sugâ€" gested that we have a single administration or single board. We feel we serve the comâ€" munity well." "We‘re concerned that the doctors are concerned," said Egan. "We‘re committed to giving the best in patient care." But Egan believes strongly that can be best achieved by working closely with St. Mary‘s in finding how to make the new directions work, rather than why they don‘t work. At Grand River Hospital, chief executive officer Dennis Egan said he‘s heard the docâ€" tors‘ frustration. "Perhaps it‘s something we can work out amongst ourselves," said Egan. "We need to collaborate more closely, and I think there‘s a will to do that, but 1 don‘t see millions and millions coming out of more shared posiâ€" tions as has been suggested. "We‘re concerned about the level of frusâ€" tration, and hopefully we can work that out during the implementation through some dialogue." "It wasn‘t the patients they were thinking of when they proposed these changes." HEERS â€"â€" & DFSIGN _ CENITIRES â€"â€" â€" Peter Schuringa local doctor "Patient care and safety are