Kamsack and its citizens were commended by their MLA last week for having led the way through a struggle to provide the community with a new facility for health care, which he said is still Saskatchewan’s number one concern.
Representing Premier Brad Wall, Dustin Duncan, the minister of health and Greg Ottenbreit, minister of rural health, Ken Krawetz, the MLA for the Canora-Pelly constituency, congratulated everyone who worked on the development of the Assiniboine Valley Health Center during a reception August 25 marking the grand opening of the new facility.
Saying health care is still the number one topic in Saskatchewan, Krawetz, the former deputy premier, said that the creation of a non-profi t foundation to operate the facility had been an excellent idea. He congratulated the committees involved for having achieved their goal without the aid of government funds and the municipal leaders for having “taken the bull by the horns.”
Krawetz said that he has seen tremendous growth in the three largest communities within the constituency, Canora, Preeceville and Kamsack, and said that Kamsack was leading the way and reiterated that the new facility would indeed attract and retain physicians.
Although government may offer incentives, money is not always the decisive motive, but rather it is the community, he said. Kamsack is a leading edge community.
“We’re all extremely proud of you,” he said.
The program, held in the waiting room of the Center with Susan Bear as emcee, began with a blessing by Rev. Nancy Brunt, who is also a town councillor involved with the project. She asked that the facility would be “a centre for health and wellness for all in the community.”
Joe Kozakewich, chair of the medical services committee of town council, provided a history of the development of the facility which began in 2009 when a shortage of doctors and the hospital having to go on bypass services became issues in the community’s health care.
Town council recognized that something had to be done to fix the problem, he said, explaining that council had recognized that in economic development a big road block would be health care that was less than ideal. With Terry Horkoff as chair, a committee was formed which wasted no time “meeting with everyone and anyone it needed to contact” and shortly thereafter the committee issued a 10-page detailed report with 10 pages of attachments which laid out the blueprint of what to do.
Council unanimously accepted the report and founded the Medical Services Committee to work on recruitment and retention of health care providers.
In order to recruit and retain doctors, a new clinic was essential, he said, adding that Dot Davies helped the committee guide its way through the maze, “kept our eye on the ball” and was an important source of information.
A new clinic was needed to replace the existing, cramped, crowded facility with an owner living in Ontario, he said. “We started looking for donations, visited other clinics, got blueprints, started the basic work and awarded a contract for the foundation of the building to Logan Stevens in 2013.
With the construction begun, support began to build, Kozakewich said. Ron Zarchikoff of Kamsack was the low bidder for the rest of the construction. He went to work and in February, as planned, the staff of the former Kamsack Medical Clinic moved in.
Kozakewich said that although the process was not always smooth, everyone had “kept their eye on the ball,” so that today “we are celebrating on what was a field” not long ago.
The Town of Kamsack and area solved a problem, he said, thanking everyone involved in the project. “We found ways to get it done; we should all be extremely proud.”
Saying her involvement was for her grandchildren, Claire Bishop, representing the Assiniboine Valley Health and Wellness Foundation, which owns the new building, thanked all of the foundation’s former and current members for having done a good job. She said it is the foundation’s hope that other health and wellness practitioners could be attracted to occupy space reserved for them in the building. She acknowledged Cody Bruvold, its chair, who had done a lot of work, both on paper and physical.
Bishop encouraged anyone wishing to help complete some of the many jobs yet to do, to step forward. She introduced Ryan Gareau, whose entry in a competition to name the facility, was selected.
Ron Zarchikoff, whose company was awarded the contract to construct the building, said he had appreciated the fact that the committee had awarded the contract to a local company and thanked everyone involved, especially the sub-trades that had assisted. He explained how the work had been accomplished in spite of difficult conditions, with challenges that included frost, water, rain and mud.
“But we made it on schedule,” he said.
Dr. Phillip Fourie, the senior medical officer for Sunrise Health Region, congratulated the community for having worked together.
“Health and wellness is important to all of us,” Fourie said adding that at Kamsack where, together, doctors Michael Bishop and Murray Davies have worked 90 years, doctor retention has been evident.
This facility is a place new doctors would want to work, he said, explaining that Kamsack is a welcoming community and now it has a good facility.
“This is a huge achievement,” he said. “I’m impressed. With it, it will be easier to recruit and retain health care workers.”
Saying his job has been made easier because he has been working with good people, Kamsack Mayor Rod Gardner thanked Terry Horkoff, who he called “the catalyst, the driver,” and mentioned the Broda family as having kicked off the fundraising. He explained how it was decided to first approach several families with requests of donations of $50,000 and explained how $1.6 million of the $2 million project has been raised.
This was done with no government money, he said. “We tried, but nothing was available. This was all done because of the generosity of local residents.”
Gardner said that he has had help from some volunteers to complete certain jobs that were beyond the terms of the contracts, including sound-proofing, landscaping and installing some shelves and doors and thanked Cindy Erhardt, Dave Barton, Claire Bishop, Russ Brunt and Joe Kozakewich for their help in completing those tasks.
“We had buckets of rock to shovel, and we’re not quite done yet.
“We still have to install traffic and parking signs and there are other jobs that will have to be done,” he said, explaining that people wishing to participate would be welcome. Gardner expressed optimism that a dentist and optometrist would soon join the staff of the Center and thanked Bruvold for having been the “glue for the foundation; a trouper.”
Representatives of other communities are scratching their heads asking how it was possible to construct this facility without the aid of government financing, he said. “If it was not for the generosity of the locals, we could not have done it,”
On behalf of Affinity Credit Union, Audrey Horkoff presented $10,000 from the credit union’s Community Development Fund to the foundation.
“This is part of Affinity’s on-going commitment to the project,” Horkoff said.
Former Kamsack resident, M. Craig Campbell of Saskatoon, the artistic blacksmith who had designed and constructed the Legacy Wall sculpture which recognizes major donors to the facility, explained how the once-essential craft of blacksmithing has evolved into artistic blacksmithing.
Throughout the event, a television monitor was showing a video recording of Campbell working on the sculpture. He explained how the pieces were forged in a furnace of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit which allowed him to shape and mould the steel.
Campbell described how the design was suggestive of the view one sees when coming into Kamsack from the west and one sees the river, hills and crops.
“That view is one of the most beautiful views in the province,” he said, describing the ‘fertile Assiniboine valley, the crops gently blowing in the wind, the endless horizon and the clouds. “It is a landscape constructed out of steel and it represents the people of the community who are strong, resilient and limitless as this structure shows.”
A ribbon, held by Susan Bear and councillors Joe Kozakewich and Nancy Brunt, was cut by Councillor Claire Bishop and Mayor Rod Gardner. Fallon Hudye cut a special cake which was served with lemonade and hors d’oeuvres were available in the adjoining room.
