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The hotline, called Health Care Connect, is part of a commitment by the-health ministry and the Ontario Medical Association to find physicians for the one in 13 Ontarians who do not have a regular family doctor. This sérvice would be fine if there were enough family physicians to go around, but let’s face it, there aren’t. The launch next month of a tele- phone service that matches up patients with doctors willing to take them on does remarkably little to address what is arguably the most critical health care issue in our communities: a short- age of doctors. When you consider that this same match-up of patients and doctors is already available to people online through the Ontario College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, it seems like the classic definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and hoping to get a different result. There's really no point in paying the current stock of doctors a one-time bonus to take on new patients either, which, at the moment, is $350 for a patient with complex medical issues and $100 for a person under 65 who is in relatively good health. Come February, the estimated half million Ontarians who are without a family doctor can call a new 1-800 number and a Telehealth Ontario stafier will try to connect them with a family doctor in their area. There are only so many hours in the day to see patients and if a doctor’s waiting room is already bursting at the seams, Chump change isn’t going to change that. But when you look at the drivers of doctor demand â€" a growing senior population, people living longer with chronic illnesses and rapidly increas- ing medical technologies such as MRIs â€" it’s easy to see that the situation will get worse before it gets better. There is no one magic pill to cure the doctor shortage, as some residents of York Region and its surrounding communities know so well. Health care policymakers are on the right track in re-organiz- ing existing family physicians into health care teams that can provide better and more comprehensive care to those who already have their own doctor. But there’s no getting away from the fact that nothing short of a substantial infusion of new doctors in the neigh- bourhoods that need them most is what’s urgently needed. All other measures axe akin to dress- ing a shark bite with a Band-Aid. 6 WM-WIWMJQM Doctor hotline won’t cure problem lETTEIS POlICY mmmm All mmmbelcss mmmmmust Include-(hm numbemmnclnd 31" you no otnm publhhampllhdlflty and”. mun-film. mm Inomgmm PINION Editorial Inmwrnvn MEDIA Managua-m BonnieRondaau Ammsmc sped-IMuMnn-ser m nulnll' a I!“ PamBurgess lim Mann n..-____ .,‘._A_ __ W120"! Three vehicles on small lots too much Re: Ibo many vehicles, not enough spaces, Ian. 24. To those Stouflvifle residents who are arguing there are not enough parking spaces for their cars, I can only say that they, along with the builders, should have thought about that problem prior to building this style of home or purchasing it after the fact. I blame the builders for cramming hundreds of homes into a small plot of land; homes that require a shoe horn to squeeze them in. The only option these residents should receive is to enforce parking one vehicle into their single garage. Or, here is a thought, sell the other vehicles Think about it. If some of these households have up to three vehicles and are only parking one vehicle on their property then that means one or two cars will be parked on the street. Imagine that outcome. Where are the bus stops with a more reli- able and more convenient scheduled service? Or, perhaps people would still be unwilling to part with their cars. With that I can only respond with: “Purchase a home with more parking and garage space”. The last thing Stouflville needs is to congest its side streets with one vehicle after another. Wake up, people. Too many vehicles and too small a property size doesn’t work. If we expect residents to move into smaller spaces then maybe an alternative method of travel should have been established prior to construction 'SUWW-Tribune 6290MahSL .SDIM.ON.L4AIG7 mmmm PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot Letters to the Editor Pnonucnon D. BAIRD STOUFFVILLE Were guns registered or smuggled? I read last week in a bigger GTA paper of four shootings, including two that were fatal. A nagging question comes to light that begs to be answered. In all of these shootings, where and how were these firearms obtained? Were they (A), registered firearms under the auspices of the controversial gun control or were they (B), smuggled in from the US. or other countn'es? So here is a thought As police nationwide have daily, unfettered access to the firearms registry (Câ€" 68), they would be able to immediately ascertain the origin of these firearms. We then could tally up the A’s vs the B’s at year end and evaluate the validity of this legislation as either an eflective detement against crime in which all Canadians are safer or the billion-dollax boon- doggle it has so ofien been touted as being. Afier all. a billion-plus dollars could put a lot more police on the streets, provide better health care coverage right across the board and fund a pile of infrastructure projects in the CIA alone. > What do you think of these issues or others? E-mail letters to the editm to jmason@ynng.com HAVE YOUR SAY, WHflBHURCH-STOUFFVILLE Barron m Cum Bum Manon Dnacmn. Wants You REGION PRINHNG Debora Kelly Robert Lazurko a Dmmmou Gm m“ Nicole Fletcher 30" Dam ADVERTISING 905-640-2612 Clan-ind: 1-800-743-3353 Fax: 9054404778 DISTRIBUTION ‘mmzsn 905-640-2612 Ix: 905-640-8778 EDITORIAL STOUFFVILLE A York Region Media Gmup community newspaper me Sun-Tum. publtslmd every Thursday and Saturday, isadMslonofmeMeuoland Media Group Ltd.,a wholtyowned My 01W W0. Metroland is comprised of 100mm actoss OntaritheYork Region NW Glow mm Uberal. serving Richmond Hill and Thomhilflaugnn 0mm» Era-Bonnet (Mamet/Aurora). Mam Economu Sun, Geocgina Advocateflom Region - mummumcmmmnmm _ and M Region Printing. The back and side streets, especially in the commercially advanced west end (that was a cry of envy from we east- enders), are lined with stores and serâ€" vices, including many unique offerings. Trouble is, they’re often on dead-end streets many never have] on. The co-worker was a Stouflville new- bie. All wet behind those city slicker He didn’t know the Tenth Line from a hydro line. Didn't know how to negotiate those tricky jogs of the Ninth and Tenth lines through Main Street. No clue that the Tenth Line became Reesor Road, or that Hwy. 48, Markham Road and Markham’s Main Street were one in the same, in parts. He needed help. Didn’t know were to buy a dozen dinner rolls, renew his driv- er’s licence or get his skates sharpened. We longerâ€"term residents take all of this local knowledge for granted. Driving short cuts Prime parking spots. And, in the spirit of George Costanza, the loca- tion of public washrooms. The rules also apply in business. We know where many of the hidden com- mercial gems in Whitchurch-Stoufiville are. But newer residents have asked out loud if Stouffville has a car wash, sport- ing goods store and a hotel. (The answer is yes to all of the above.) Just as those shop owners should be promoting their wares, especially to our new neighbours, we owe it to ourselves to discover our community. Use this newspaper, the Internet or our chamber of commerce. Not only can you reduce your envi- ronmental footprint by staying local, but you’re recycling your dollars at home. You’re creating jobs for your neighbours and, hopefully. spinning money back into our community. That’s especially important in these tough times. So, when your child's sports team, the hospital gala or the church bazaar are out of sponsors, you’ll know who is responsible. Iim Mason is editor of The Sun- Th‘bune. @fibune Going shopping on lessons from Stoufiuille 1 01 with Jim Mason Off The Top