The warden of Hastings County has outlined some of his goals over his next two years at the helm.
Rick Phillips gave his inauguration speech on Thursday, after being acclaimed to the position again in the fall and spoke about the pandemic response and recovery, along with some upcoming benchmarks he hopes to meet moving forward.
Phillips, who is the Reeve of Tyendinaga Township, also served as Hastings County Warden from 2012 to 2016 and has been in the role since 2018, following a two-year term by former Stirling-Rawdon Mayor Rodney Cooney.
Among some of the accolades listed in his 30 minute speech, Phillips heaped praise on area paramedics and county staff, for their hard work in dealing with COVID-19 so far.
Audio Player“At every turn and with each new challenge COVID-19 presented, they have worked as hard as they possibly could to protect and support our residents, our clients, those who find themselves homeless, our businesses and our partners. Thank you for embracing our simple motto of helping when help is required.”
The Warden also paid tribute to local long term care residents who passed away due to the virus, but added that as much as we need to continue to focus on and deal with COVID-19, plans also have to be made for the future.
He says one of the top priorities moving into 2021 is to continue to make improvements in the numbers of hours of care that residents at the county’s long term care facilities receive.
Audio Player“To get to the full four hours per day, per resident, we calculate it will cost a further $2.8 million at Hastings Manor and $1.1 million at Centennial Manor. We would like to get to standard right away, but we recognize that it is more than money. Finding the right and qualified staff is going to be a big effort.”
There are also plans to improve air conditioning at Hastings Manor this year, to make working and living in the long term care facility more comfortable through the summer months.
He also outlined plans for a new paramedics base “somewhere in the central part of Hastings County”, noting that a search is on for an “optimal site” and the hope is to have construction begin in 2021.
Phillips also spoke about plans that are in the works to recruit more paramedics to the region.
Other priorities include continuing to push for improved broadband services, which Phillips says will be a key in the post-COVID economic recovery, along with making improvements to social services as well.
He went on to praise the cooperation and partnership between Hastings County’s municipalities in continuing to improve the quality of life for area residents and noted the importance of the implementation of an official plan to speed up development and other projects in the future.
You can click here to read the full inauguration remarks from Hastings County Warden Rick Phillips and see a further brief outline of his priorities below.