Health is important to all communities and those within the Saskatoon Health Region (SHR) may soon have a stronger voice.
SHR held a meeting on February 8 with City of Humboldt representatives and the Humboldt Regional Doctor Recruitment and Retention Committee to discuss the possibility of creating an advisory council for the Humboldt region.
"The Saskatoon Regional Health Authority is looking to create these community advisory committees to engage communities as a new model of public engagement between the Saskatoon Health Region and the communities it serves," said Jennifer Brooks, Humboldt Director of Communications and Community Development.
The advisory committee "would broaden the scope and mandate of the current (Doctor Recruitment and Retention) committee and include surrounding municipalities and/or interested parties," according to Brooks' report to City Council.
It is still in the early developmental stages, but the same type of model is being used in other parts of the province.
"They are looking at it as a way to bring broader health concerns to SHR's attention and have it as a vehicle so SHR can communicate back to the committee items of concern," said Brooks.
They will be planning a follow-up meeting to talk about what the committee and structure will look like.
"This is something that the City does support," said Brooks. "If this is how the SHR will be engaging with communities, we certainly support the efforts."
The committee would also have ties to the Doctor Recruitment and Retention Committee.
"There have been a lot of great efforts to date on behalf of the Doctor Recruitment and Retention Committee with a number of committed individuals moving health items and certainly physician recruitment forward," said Brooks. "We want to continue to support those efforts."
They are also looking forward to working closely with SHR.
"We are certainly interested in learning what SHR is looking to do with these advisory health committees and how they see this model going out on a broader framework," said Brooks.
