Mayor Gary St. Onge is getting ready to go on a fact-finding mission of sorts.
It was announced last week that St. Onge is one of three new appointees to the Sun Country Health Region's board of directors. He becomes the second Estevan member on the board, joining Lori Carr who was named vice-chairwoman in the shuffle.
In an interview May 22, St. Onge said he is not sure the province's health regions can operate properly under the current system. Having already made the decision to not run for re-election in the fall, St. Onge will have extra time on his hands and wants to find out whether or not his feeling is correct.
"I do have a concern," he said. "The best way to find out is if I go (on the board) and then I'll see, especially in the Weyburn-Estevan area where you have two large cities vying for dollars.
"I hope to learn a lot and find out exactly how they operate and see if I can contribute. Hopefully I can be rational in my thinking and help out."
Along with the questions about the health region, St. Onge said he also hopes to learn about the differences in how St. Joseph's Hospital, which is a faith-based institution affiliated with the health region, and the Weyburn General Hospital which is owned by the region are funded.
"They say there should be no difference but if you look at the budgets they don't quite jibe," he said. "I want to see if it is a negative that ours is affiliated and not part of Sun Country.
"Also, I want to see how they make these decisions. When you are a board you have to have administration that you can trust. I don't know if that is the case. Once I get on there I will know whether or not I can trust them and whether or not they are not doing the best they can for the whole region."
St. Onge said although he will have an Estevan focus, he is aware from his previous experiences on the local school board that the needs of the region must be dealt with as well. However, he candidly admitted Estevan will be of central importance to him and he plans to push such issues as fairness between the Energy City and Weyburn and the need for a CT scan here.
"I've said it before (that Estevan doesn't get a fair shake). I go back to when we didn't have an ultrasound. I don't care who says what and how much it costs, that was ridiculous that Estevan didn't have an ultrasound. We need a (CT scan in this area)."
St. Onge said he will also continue to press for a family medicine residency program at St. Joe's. Along with hospital administrator Greg Hoffort and Dr. Edward Tsoi, St. Onge met with the College of Medicine in Saskatoon to discuss the idea and were given a favourable response. The program is seen as a way to prevent any future doctor shortages like those that plagued the area in 2011.
For more on the changes, please see the accompanying story.
