A business case is being made by the Sun Country Health Region to have a visiting ophthalmologist perform cataract surgeries in the health region.
Due to the number of patients currently travelling to Regina and elsewhere to have the 10-minute surgical procedures done, Sun Country is hoping to impress upon the Ministry of Health the need to have it provide funding for the surgeries to be done in Weyburn, thus saving many patients a lot of time and travel expense.
The recommendation to pursue cataract surgeries in Sun Country came from a committee of the whole working session. A business case for the extension of service is being prepared by CEO Marga Cugnet to be presented to the Ministry of Health in the near future.
Cugnet told The Mercury that the numbers of patients have been tracked and a Regina-based ophthalmologist has been identified and has agreed to provide the service, if the funding can be made available.
That piece of information was provided during the Sept. 25 meeting of Sun Country's board of directors in Weyburn.
Following a summer break, the directors got down to the business of listening to reports stemming from a variety of sources during the session, including their monthly wall walk that provides graphic evidence of improvements made in various sectors of health-care service.
Chairwoman Marilyn Charlton, brought the members up to date on her summer's scheduled events that included a meeting in Arcola to discuss collaborative health-care efforts, another meeting in Regina for risk management information and another Regina-based meeting to discuss five-year plans for health regions across the province. She also met with the finance and audit committee to further discuss risk management plans.
Cugnet reported on an ethics group meeting she attended along with a health care planning session and a follow-up session on long-term care plans that include resident councils. She noted that all but two long-term care facilities have now introduced the program and those two, in Oxbow and Gainsborough, were only hampered in the process by recent staff and management changes, so they will be added soon.
Cugnet also noted the recent official opening of the helipad at St. Joseph's Hospital in Estevan, the first helipad for medical evacuation services to be built in Saskatchewan.
The board approved a motion to sell some property adjacent to their hospital in Arcola. Cugnet said she understood there were some people who were interested in developing the property so the board decided to put the property on the market to test it for expressions of interest. An advertisement for tenders will be issued soon. The purpose of the sale would be to provide housing for physicians or other health professionals.
Director Audrey Trombley said it would be made clear that the ad will stipulate the property is being made available only for accommodating medical practitioners.
Cugnet later reported that the long-term care facility in Redvers was completed over the summer and the residents have moved in. An integrated health centre in Kipling has been approved and work has begun on a project that will see the new facility completed by the end of 2014.
A primary health clinic slated for Weyburn has undergone some early glitches and was set back, but design work has now begun. Cugnet said the design will be forwarded for approval soon so that renovation work on the site can begin this month and completed within three months.
Cugnet told the board the target for the number of physicians needed in Sun Country is 46 and the region currently has 25 on board and practicing in the region. The good news is that seven of the eight new physicians that were recently recruited have completed the first round of the Saskatchewan certification process and are now engaged in the next phase.
Five of the seven doctors have indicated that they will be setting up for business in Weyburn while the other two have selected smaller centres within the region.
There are four more potential University of Saskatchewan medical students about to graduate who have expressed interest in Sun Country since they are originally from this area of the province. They could be available to set up practice in 2015.
The board approved several doctor appointments during the meeting as well.
The board learned that over the summer 29 bursaries were awarded from April 1, including 24 for registered nursing training, two for nurse practitioners and one in occupational therapy. Two students were engaged in primary care paramedic programs.
Over the summer Sun Country hired three registered nurses, two licensed practical nurses, two speech language pathologists, one occupational therapist and two out-of-scope staff.
During that same time period, two registered nurses and one licensed practical nurse resigned along with one medical laboratory technologist and four out-of-scope staff members.
The members also learned that in May and June of this year, Sun Country handled 38 calls or written concerns directed to the quality of care co-ordinator. Most of the concerns were related to gaining access to physician services while others referred to problems accessing services in other health regions.
The number of residents waiting for a bed in a long-term care centre in Sun Country has dropped significantly from June 2012 to June 2013.
A recent report showed that the number of residents waiting for placement in long-term care facility is now just 14 compared with 37 at the corresponding time a year ago. However, the number of residents waiting for a transfer to a facility of their choice has increased to 104 residents now compared with 78 at the same time last year.
The Sun Country board will meet again on Nov. 27 in their central office conference room at Tatagwa View in Weyburn.
