A new doctor for Greater Napanee and a major expansion announced at the local Goodyear plant.
Add in a couple of strong performances from Napanee Express teams at the provincial and national level and suffice to say, it has been a fantastic week for the town.
The good times started when Dr. Max Pang officially became the third family doctor this year to establish a family practice as part of the Greater Napanee Health Home program. That’s great news for 500 residents who are without primary care. It won’t solve the entire issue of ‘unattached’ residents, but it’ll put a positive dent in the number that are without a family physician.
It’s also encouraging that a trio of doctors-who have plenty of options before them-have circled Greater Napanee on the map and decided this is where they wanted to call home.
On the surface Dr. Pang’s announcement had nothing to do with the Aug. 12 press conference that highlighted the upcoming expansion at Goodyear that will see 200 highly skilled jobs brought to the region. Delve a bit deeper though and its not easy to see how the two are linked. Access to health care is a huge draw for residents and businesses alike, and having family physicians available is a huge building block towards industrial growth of a community. A great job by all those involved who helped make it happen.
So big was the Goodyear news that it warranted a visit from both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. The mere mention of either of those names can draw the ire of a lot of people on both sides of the political spectrum, but no one can deny this was a big event for the region. The leader of the country and the leader of its largest populated province don’t always get along, but on this day they put asides their differences and played nice. Trudeau did use his time at the podium to take some digs as federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, which did seem a bit out of place for the announcement. Ford meanwhile used his time to do a bit of campaigning himself, touting his government’s history of not raising taxes. Politicians will be politicians after all.
News of expanding the plant to begin production of tires specifically designed for electric vehicles will hit a sore spot for some in this area who were negatively impacted by the halting of the Umicore electric vehicle battery plant in Loyalist Township. That bombshell was dropped less than a month ago and it would be hard to blame cynics of the latest announcement.
Still, with a company of Goodyear’s size and track record, there’s good reason for optimism. The community could certainly use some of that optimism these days.
-Adam Prudhomme