SASKATOON — Delayed for almost three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lakeside Medical Centre doctors and staff joined officials from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation for a formal opening Wednesday, Sept. 28.
Lakeside Medical Clinic is along Joseph Okemasis Drive, on the east side of the city, built on the property owned by the First Nation.
Dr. Bill Haver, the LMC founder, said they first opened their facility in 1981 as a solo practice and they moved the clinic several times in the city as their services and patient needs grew over the years.
“I’m the founder of Lakeside but this is not certainly my show. We’ve been continuing to evolve since then. We’ve been continually trying to provide medical services in the city of Saskatoon but as we grew, we sort of ran out of space,” said Haver.
“We tried to build larger clinics and provide other services. We were discussing our problems five years ago, trying to find what we should do and we hit on the idea of trying to build a new building, and realized a new clinic was the way to go.”
He added plans for a new clinic included better facilities and support staff who know how to take care of and assist the specific needs of their patients.
“We’ve met a lot of developers during that time and the difference here was that most of the developers wanted us to build something that fits into their solution. When we met with MLCN [Investment Management Corp.], they are willing to let us build something that fits our needs and that would help serve their purposes as well,” said Haver.
He said the space they were offered is what they were looking for to attract the people that they wanted to provide health care services to, which a few years later resulted in the current establishment near the Sutherland Industrial neighbourhood.
MLCN-IMC chair Sarain Lafond said that he now understands the effect of all the developments that had taken place in their urban reserve on their community.
“This is the type of building that he [my father] had envisioned all those years ago when we started developing this urban reserve. Those of you that sit on the board [as directors] understand that you are there mostly to supervise the hard work and that is definitely the same with me. With utmost fate, the rest of the vacant land that we have here can be filled with projects similar to what we have here with the Lakeside Medical Clinic," said Lafond.
MLCN Councillor Cal Arcand said that as if it was only yesterday when they celebrated Treaty Day on the same land where several edifices and facilities, including LMC, are now located.
“I remember the vision long ago when this was just a parcel of land. We like to thank the many leaders, all the past chiefs and board members, for this. We got the opportunity, especially being a new councillor, to see these things coming to fruition,” said Arcand.
