The Weyburn and District Hospital Foundation still has a lot of work left to do ahead of them, as they work to promote the need for a new hospital for Weyburn and area.
The foundation will continue to serve the community, and continue to raise funds for equipment, furnishings and infrastructure needs for a new hospital in Weyburn.
With the Crescent Point Energy donation of $4.5 million in late September, the Hospital Foundation reached the $20 million mark for their fundraising efforts.
While that was a successful first step for the foundation, there is still a lot of work yet to be completed.
It is important to note that the true construction costs for a new hospital has not yet been identified; and that the $20 million was an estimated amount, based off a $100 million facility.
For health facility construction, the provincial government is responsible for 80 per cent of funding, while the community organization needs to raise 20 per cent. The Weyburn and District Hospital Foundation is still awaiting word from the provincial government on the government's funding commitment.
Also, the foundation is committed to raise funds to ensure that the new hospital will have state-of-the-art equipment and new furnishings.
However, until the provincial government provides funds to Sun Country Health Region for the planning study, there is no way to know exactly what the costs of the building will be, where the facility will be built, or what equipment will be needed for the new facility.
It is also important to note that the $20 million consists of cash donations and commitments of funds, and the majority of that amount was committed over several years and has not been fully received by the foundation yet.
The City of Weyburn and several RMs in the area committed their funds over as many as 15 years. So while there are firm commitments from municipal governments and local companies, the majority of the money is not actually in the hands of the Foundation.
The Hospital Foundation was originally formed to raise funds to build and equip a new facility for Weyburn and district. Now that a large portion of the money has been identified and committed, it is time for members of the public to let the government know that they would like the new facility to come to Weyburn sooner rather than later.
Once the new hospital has been built and equipped, the focus of the Foundation will be to continue to fundraise to contribute funds for new state-of-the-art technology, equipment and furnishings, which will be determined based on discussions with the Sun Country Health Region.
There will be equipment that will need to be replaced on an ongoing basis, and it is the desire of the Weyburn District Hospital Foundation that the new hospital stay up to date.
Already looking ahead for next year, the Weyburn and District Hospital Foundation has set the date for their annual Valentine's Day Gala and they will be holding their fifth annual Charity Golf Tournament in the summer.
These events continue to be important fundraisers for the foundation.
The current Weyburn General Hospital was constructed in 1952, as an 80-bed facility known as the Weyburn Union Hospital. The east wing of the facility was later constructed in 1961, which increased the rated capacity to a total of 101 beds, and included a new diagnostic area for laboratory and radiology. The hospital serves the community with public health clinic, pediatrics, lifeline, intensive care, in-patient, care, emergency out-patient, day surgery, clinics and specialists, and cardiology services.
