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Tribute and prevention go hand in hand
 Hannah – a bright little girl.
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Paul Dicks, manager of
the La Ronge Hotel and
Suites, knows what the
painful results of H1N1 infl
uenza can be; he initiated
a H1N1 Infl uenza prevention
plan that has been
taken on by the staff.
“It’s a tribute to my
daughter,” Dicks said,
talking of his bright sixand-
a-half year old daughter,
who died in a Saskatoon
hospital of H1N1 in
early July.
“We went to the hospital
with a bone problem
and she ended up
contracting H1N1 in the
hospital.”
As a preventative measure
all cutlery, dishes and
condiments have been
removed from the tables
in the restaurant and dining
room of the hotel; staff
wear rubber gloves when
serving customers.
Some staff wear masks
the kitchen and dining
room when cleaning,
Dicks said.
“If we at this hotel can
(keep) anyone from getting
H1N1 then that’s what
we want,” Dicks said.
With Hannah’s death,
Dick said, you do some
self examination, should
we have gone sooner? And
other questions arise.
“That’s how this started,”
he said.
The hotel placed hand
sanitizer around and then
came to the conclusion,
“we could do more.”
Dicks said he felt it
wasn’t entirely up to the
government health department
to protect the public,
industry and business must
do its part.
“We went to the staff
and asked, what can we
do? The staff came up with
removing everything from
the tables; they came up
with very valid ideas.”
A sign appears on each
of the tables For Your
Protection which outlines
the hotel’s commitment to
do what they can to protect
guests from getting the
H1N1.
House keeping staff
will wear gloves; masks
while working in the
rooms. Hand sanitizer
stations will be located
around the hotel, restaurant
tables will be kept
clear and sanitized and the
lobby door handles and
railings will be sanitize
every hour.
In addition shower curtains
and phones in the
individual rooms will be
disinfected between each
guest, Dicks said.
“The staff members
embraced this and now
it’s become their battle,”
he said.
Dicks is clear, he knows
many people aren’t taking
the H1N1 seriously,
and freely admits that
had it not been for Hannah’s
death, he probably
wouldn’t take it that seriously,
but he knows fi rst
hand just how serious
H1N1 can be.
And Dicks is challenging
other businesses in
the community to do the
same thing
“If we can do this, we
can multiply this (effort)
… it’ my passion; it’s my
tribute to my daughter. If
it makes people understand
then that’s what it’s
all about. We’re trying to
prevent this happening to
somebody else.”
Valerie G. Barnes-Connell
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