January 2022

January 2022 IFP Column
Georgetown lost one of its strongest pillars and greatest boosters with the passing of Graeme Goebelle last month.
 
In his professional life as a Chartered Accountant, Graeme’s clients benefited from his vast knowledge, experience, and integrity. He was successful with his accountancy practice over the decades, but like all great community builders, he felt an obligation to give back.
 
Graeme had a passionate, enduring interest in our health care system, and a deep appreciation for our healthcare workers and our hospitals. He knew that to fulfill their mission, hospitals need community support; and community engagement helps to build that support.
 
By volunteering his time, working with others, and encouraging more people to get involved, he inspired others to do the same and contributed significantly to the excellent care our community receives today. In recent years, he was appointed to the Board of the Mississauga-Halton Local Health Integration Network (LHIN). The mandate of the LHIN was to focus on the needs of patients, break down silos in health care, reduce wasteful and overlapping spending, improve front-line care, and get everyone in the system working together. Quickly, his leadership skills propelled him into the Chair’s position.
 
Graeme was uniquely qualified for this role, and he embraced it with enthusiasm and dedication. He became a favourite of the Minister of Health at the time, Deb Matthews, who frequently told me how much she appreciated the great job he was doing.
 
Our entire community joins Graeme Goebelle’s family in mourning his loss. But we also celebrate his life, and give thanks for his exceptional community service.
 
COVID-19 update
 
New measures to confront the threat posed by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 were announced by the Government of Ontario on January 3. In consultation with Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, these changes are intended to slow the spread of the virus, protect our health care system from becoming more overwhelmed, and ultimately keep people healthy and safe. More information on the latest, updated public health advice is available at:

covid-19.ontario.ca or halton.ca
 
Stay safe, and take care.