The committee for Estevan’s new regional nursing home continues to raise funds for the building, while lobbying for construction to begin.
Committee chair Don Kindopp said they have more than $8.2 million for the project.
“We still have memorials coming in for the campaign,” Kindopp told the Mercury. “For example, the Doris Anderson family made a $1,000 memorial donation.”
The committee had to raise $8 million, which represents 20 per cent of the project’s forecasted $40 million cost so they could enter the provincial queue for health-care facilities. They created the Hearthstone Community Campaign to raise the funds, and they reached their $8 million objective in January 2015.
Donations have continued to come in during the past 12 months. Most have been from estates.
“In my mind, it indicates the importance the new nursing home plays in the minds of the people in the community,” said Kindopp.
The donations they receive now are going towards the furnishings and other items in the new nursing home. Kindopp said it will likely cost between $750,000 and $1 million to purchase those items, but they haven’t been campaigning for additional support.
“The Sun Country Health Region has indicated that when the new nursing home is built, the present nursing home will be sold, and the proceeds of that will go towards this project,” said Kindopp. “So we’re thinking that the sale of the older regional nursing home will account for the funds needed to pay for the furnishings and the equipment.”
The committee’s attention is now on lobbying to move the project forward. They have spoken to the provincial government on alternative methods for the project to proceed, such as delaying the costs.
Kindopp noted other health-care projects in the province have moved forward without the traditional funding models. But he and the other committee members recognize the province is facing tougher economic times.
Public-private partnerships have become more common in Saskatchewan in recent years, but the new regional nursing home might not qualify, since it won’t cost $100 million or more.
“With the new federal government and the discussion around infrastructure, we’re hoping that long-term care facilities will be part of the definition of infrastructure, and there will be some way of accessing funds to move our projects forward,” said Kindopp.
They have not received any indication that Estevan’s new nursing home will be included in the provincial budget, and there hasn’t been any concrete information on when the provincial government would give it the green light.
“We’re trying to think of any creative way that we could proceed with the project that involves the province and Sun Country, but we’ll brainstorm and see what we can come up with,” said Kindopp.
The new nursing home is a priority for Sun Country, he said. The new hospital in Weyburn is next on the health region’s priority list, and Kindopp says he recognizes the importance of that project, so he is hopeful that Estevan’s new regional nursing home is next in line for the health region.
