The recent Master Capital Plan for the Sunrise Health Region (SHR) was an inventory of the facilities in the region and their sustainability into the future.
The report, which was received in October of 2010, identified three facilities as priority for infrastructure needs. Those facilities were the St. Anthony's Hospital in Esterhazy, Canora Hospital and Canora Gateway Lodge in Canora, and the Yorkton Regional Health Centre in Yorkton.
The next step for the priority facilities is to begin conceptual planning for any intended replacement.
Suann Laurent, Interim Chief Executive Officer for the region, emphasizes that the conceptual planning is a very early stage, and that it can be a very long and involved process before any plans become a reality.
She notes that the conceptual planning in Esterhazy began 18 months ago, and it's still not complete.
"Just because we're conceptual planning doesn't mean all of these things will happen. It's one positive step in the right direction for our future, but we still have to get all the plans in place and the money that would be the 20 per cent share from the communities, and at that point we bring them to the ministry to see whether they are approved or not," Laurent says.
The primary concern with the facilities named is age, Laurent adds. The Yorkton Regional Health Centre was built in 1959, and while there have been significant upgrades to both it and the other facilities, the building's age is a concern.
"There has to be a point in time where you have to begin planning for the future in our region," Laurent says.
She also says that the region is looking forward to working with all of the people involved to ensure that the new facility is the best possible for patients in the region. She says that it has to be a far-reaching plan, and time needs to be taken with the conceptual plan so that any proposed facilities are functional both today, and well into the future.
One thing that Laurent is encouraged by is the greater percentage of hospital funding provided by the provincial government, which she believes could make any proposed facilities closer to reality.
"SUMA and SARM certainly have pushed to have an 80/20 share, instead of 65/35, so now communities now have a 20 per cent capital investment instead of 35 per cent.
So when you're looking at facilities of this magnitude, it makes the potential of having a building a little bit more attainable for communities," Laurent says.
The region is planning for the future, and Laurent says that they are excited about taking that first step.
