Canada moves on to the
semifinals after demolishing
Switzerland 8-2 at the world
juniors. sports
Plug pulled on cardiac fitness
Cardiologist in charge says patients being
‘abandoned’ in shift to St. Joe’s rehab program
Jonathan Sher
The London Free Press
London’s largest hospital plans to
close its Cardiac Fitness Institute
over the objection of its cardiolo-
gist and patients he claims total
1,400.
“They are being abandoned by
the hospital,” Dr. Larry Patrick told
The Free Press Tuesday.
Without the ongoing support of
the institute, more patients will
deviate from the exercise, diet and
screening that keeps them alive
and out of emergency rooms, he
said.
Patrick said he was told by a
London Health Sciences Centre
administrator that the building the
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clinic occupies, a former chapel,
is needed to create more meeting
space for administrators.
“There’s too many administra-
tors, way too many, so (they) really
do need (added) meeting space,”
he said.
Hospital brass declined inter-
views Tuesday, but LHSC pub-
lished a statement on its website
from outgoing chief executive
Murray Glendining that lays out
the case for closing the institute,
which opened its doors in 1981.
“Patient referrals to the Cardiac
Fitness Institute (CFI) will end
March 2018,” Glendining wrote.
“These services do not fall under
the mandate of acute care hospi-
tals and LHSC receives no funding
Reid Hensen’s ski goggles reflect the hill and lift at Boler Mountain Tuesday in London. Despite sub-zero conditions,
Boler has had a banner start to the season with a new $6.1 million chalet. For details, see Page A2.
From $79
to support similar services and can
no longer subsidize the costs of the
CFI program.”
Hospital officials said they
haven’t decided how to use the
space. “There has been no final
decision made about the use of
physical space at this time,” offi-
cials wrote.
After March, patients who sur-
vive heart attacks, have heart dis-
ease or who are recovering from
valve or bypass surgery will be
referred to a rehabilitation pro-
gram operated by St. Joseph’s
Health Care London.
Patrick said the cardiac rehabil-
itation and secondary prevention
program at St. Joe’s has had wait
times as long as five months.
There are key differences
between the fitness institute and
the rehab program:
Supreme leader blames
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protests that have left more
than 20 people dead in the
country. np
• St. Joe’s rehab program pro-
vides exercise and diet guidance
for six months, while the fitness
institute does so indefinitely, with
patients allowed to use exercise
equipment in the clinic.
• Staff at the rehab program offer
stress tests for patients under its
care, but after six months those
tests can be ordered only by doc-
tors independent of the pro-
gram. The fitness institute offers
annual stress tests, which brings
in between $90,000 and $110,000
from Ontario’s Health Ministry.
• St. Joe’s rehab program is
funded by the Health Ministry
but LHSC’s fitness institute is not
and the hospital says it subsidizes
about half of the $300,000 annual
cost, with donations covering the
balance.
See heart | A5
Mike Hensen/The London Free Press
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P OST M E D I A
SECTION B
Activists
urge action
on blackface
cop photos
Randy Richmond
The London Free Press
The London police service needs
to move quickly and decisively on
an incident involving an officer in
blackface, human rights advocates
say.
That action should include an
immediate apology by the officer
involved, and recognition by the
police department the act was rac-
ist, some say.
But the police force also should
use the incident for education
rather than punishment, advo-
cates say.
“I do want to stress this should be
seen not as an opportunity to con-
demn, but an opportunity to edu-
cate and enhance our collective
understanding,” Anthony Morgan,
a Toronto lawyer and specialist in
human rights and race relations,
said Tuesday.
The officer involved “needs to
make a statement and take a stand
to acknowledge she now under-
stands this is problematic,” said
Barbara Perry, a professor at the
University of Ontario Institute of
Technology and a specialist in hate
crimes.
“I hope London police service
sees this as a teaching moment.”
London police already have made
one misstep by saying they’re con-
ducting an internal investigation
into the context and intent behind
the incident, said Mojdeh Cox, an
anti-racism and human rights
advocate formerly of London, now
working in Ottawa.
There’s no context or intent
that can justify painting oneself
in blackface, a method of ridicul-
ing black people since the early
1900s, she said.
“I think the police should come
out and say this was racism,” Cox
said.
London police need to explain
to the public exactly what they’re
doing to address the incident and
racism in the force, Cox added.
“The question is, does this act of
the employee reflect the values of
the employer?”
Police services across Canada,
including London, are making
efforts to understand and train
officers in diversity, Perry said.
“This certainly takes them
(London police) a step back.”
See blackface | A5
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