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Greater Madawaska Township Mayor Peter Emon gave much food for thought in his 2012 inaugural address. – Page 7 –

The Wolves are in a tight battle for a Valley Division playoff spot.

– Page 27 –

A Sense of Country on Main Street is a tribute to all things nostalgic, including the memory of the owners’ grandparents who ran Blimkie’s Booth in days gone by. – Page 9 –

NEWS

Year 141, Issue 30 Thursday, February 2, 2012 • 36 pages www.yourottawaregion.com

New general surgeon coming to Renfrew

Mercury photo by Peter Clark

Muskrat Lake water quality reaching critical level: MNRLUCY HASS

lucy.hass@metroland.com

The water quality in Muskrat Lake is dete-riorating at an alarming rate and Ministry of Natural Resources staff say they’re commit-ted to helping the community fi nd solutions to avert an ecological tragedy.

“It is, without a doubt, the biggest envi-ronmental challenge that we face in Renfrew County today,” MNR Pembroke district issues

and information offi cer Doug Skeggs told The Renfrew Mercury last week. The visit by Skeggs and MNR Pembroke area biologist Kirby Punt was intended to bring the commu-nity up to speed on the issue.

Last spring Cobden resident Donald Broome lit a spark of controversy with a nine-part se-ries of paid advertisements called Smeltgate, outlining concerns with the smelt population in Cobden’s small cold-water lake.

And this past November, a meeting of the

Cobden Conservation Club and Whitewater council solidifi ed a call for action. Whitewa-ter council has taken an interest and hired a consultant experienced in dealing with lake sensitivity and impacts on municipal devel-opment.

And that’s fi ne, says Skeggs, “Certainly the more information, the more knowledge you apply to this problem, the better chance you have of actually achieving something.”

See MUSKRAT, Page 3

REDNECK CHEER

Inside Mercury

COMMUNITY

SPORTS

Sixth physician recruited by Renfrew and Health

Services Village

STEVE NEWMAN

steve.newman@metroland.com

Dr. Susan Krajewski is happy to be coming to town as Ren-frew and Area Health Services Village’s most recently-recruit-ed physician, and even more so after working in Vancouver last week.

“While stuck in traffi c for an hour (Sunday), I was even more excited (abut the decision),” she said.

Not only will there be less traffi c in Renfrew for this Ot-tawa-born physician, but she’s familiar with the area. Dr. Kra-jewski has spent many summers at her grandparents’ cottage on Golden Lake.

She is scheduled to start working as the general surgeon at Renfrew Victoria Hospital in early May. For her fi rst month, she will work in conjunction with soon-to-retire general sur-geon Dr. Lance Miller.

She is the sixth physician to be recruited by the health ser-vices village. The board’s goal is to recruit 14 physicians within the decade that began in 2010.

It’s been a busy past year for Dr. Krajewski and her husband, an operating room registered

nurse, after welcoming their son Noah into the world just over a year ago. And things may not get much quieter, since the hospital’s general surgical pro-gram dealt with an estimated 1,500 surgeries last year.

References for the hospital’s newest general surgeon have been outstanding, says RVH chief executive offi cer Randy Penney.

In his recommendation, Dr. Morad Hameed, the director of the residency at the University of British Columbia called her “the brightest and most talent-ed surgeon I have ever worked with.”

See SIXTH, Page 6

Dr. Susan Krajewski

Braedon Vincent celebrates his victory in the younger class of the Redneck Crash Ice event during Renfrew Winter Frew Fest. The winner of the older category was Drew Edwards. For more Frew Fest details, see inside.

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The Corporation of theTown of Renfrew

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Property Tax Rebates forVacant Commercial and Industrial Buildings

In accordance with Ontario Reg. 325/01, and the Ontario Municipal Act, 2001, property tax relief for vacant commercial and industrial buildings in the Town of Renfrew will be provided to property owners through rebates that are issued by the municipality.

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Continued from front pageIn a news release from the hospital,

Penney said, “Her academic qualifi ca-tions from (the universities of) Guelph, Toronto and Harvard, her surgical ex-perience, and familiarity with Renfrew County will make her a great addition to our medical community.”

In Monday’s conference call, Penney noted the search committee received sev-eral good applications, but considered her an excellent candidate.

Raye-Anne Briscoe, the Admaston-Bromley mayor who chairs the Renfrew and Area Health Services Village, fa-cetiously hoped that Vancouver’s rain sends her east sooner rather than later, to join the Renfrew area’s “four-season community.”

Briscoe also noted the “stellar service” that Dr. Miller has provided for years.

Reasons for relocating to Renfrew, said Dr. Krajewski, included proximity to family, and the chance to be part of a varied general surgery practice and the community.

“I think the most important things for us,” she added, “was the collegiality at the hospital and the very, very supportive

administration.”She said the couple also “felt a big pull

to come closer to home, and Renfrew by far was the best fi t for us. There are lots of reasons we decided to come.”

She and her husband, Louis Watson, visited Renfrew Victoria Hospital last November. What left a strong impression was the extent of the hospital’s facilities, given the size of the community and the hospital.

“The resources,” she said, “are above and beyond what I’ve seen in similar-sized hospitals.”

Philosophically, she says she fervently believes families must be part of the pro-cess of medical care so she can build a relationship with the patient and explain what’s happening medically.

As with Dr. Miller, Dr. Krajewski will be working out of the St. Francis Memo-rial Hospital clinic in Barry’s Bay and at the Renfrew hospital, where all her surgeries will take place. There will also be post-op follows-ups in the Barry’s Bay area.

Dr. Krajewski recently completed a sixth-month locum at Mount St. Joseph’s Hospital. In coming to Renfrew, she says

she hopes to build on the great surgical program in place by introducing laparo-scopic colon surgery. This kind of sur-gery, she says, “has been shown to de-crease the length of stay in the hospital and get patients back to work faster.”

To help expand this program, RVH is investing up to $125,000 for equipment needed for these new procedures.

Last year’s general surgeries, said Penney, consisted of about 65 per cent arthroscopic surgeries, 30 per cent other general surgeries, and fi ve per cent ob-stetrical and gynecological procedures.

Dr. Krajewski did her undergrad stud-ies at the University of Guelph where she also played lacrosse.

She later worked for a pharmaceutical

company, then did her medical degree at the University of Toronto. During that time she spent summers doing research into infectious diseases in Peru and Hon-duras.

Next, she did her general service train-ing for surgery at the University of Brit-ish Columbia. This training included surgical experience in northern Canada and on Vancouver Island. She followed with a master’s degree in public health at Harvard University, where she focused on the issue of public access to surgical care.

Dr. Krajewski speaks English, French and Spanish fl uently. Her pastimes in-clude downhill skiing, hiking, yoga and travel.

News

Sixth doctor recruited by Renfrew and Area Health Services Village

Airport looking for support from countyContinued from Page 5

Future opportunities also include the prospects of an international fl ight train-ing centre operating out of the airport.

Meanwhile, Wren has asked county council to include the airport in its fu-ture economic development discussions.

“When it comes to making a region more economically prosperous, time and convenience are critical factors,” said Wren.

“The airport is a world connection,” he added. “Every major business needs business, and the airport needs council to be its most enthusiastic supporter.”

In closing his PowerPoint presentation, he referred to the motto on the screen.

If there’s anything to be taken from his talk, Wren said he hoped it would be these words: “A mile of highway gives you a mile. A mile of runway gives you the world. I hope you’ll fl y with us.”