The new facility will be located next to the La Ronge Health Centre. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

health care

La Ronge long-term care facility could be built by end of 2023

Apr 7, 2021 | 3:01 PM

Gary Veteri delivered a petition a year and a half ago to the Saskatchewan Legislature demanding a long-term care facility in La Ronge. He is now pleased with Tuesday’s commitment from the province.

Included in yesterday’s budget was $7.6 million for an 80-bed long-term care facility in the community. The provincial government had previously committed $73 million in June 2020 for two new facilities in La Ronge and Grenfell as part of a $7.5 billion, two-year capital plan to build a strong Saskatchewan and stimulate Saskatchewan’s economic recovery.

The facility is expected to be ready in 2022/2023 and will replace the current 14 permanent resident beds at the La Ronge Health Centre.

“It is needed in La Ronge,” Veteri said. “We have been sending a lot of our older people south for their final days, which I don’t think is right. People have built La Ronge for years and years and, when their final days come, they have to be going south and not staying in their own hometown.”

Veteri became involved in campaigning for a long-term care facility in La Ronge about seven years ago when his wife Nadine was diagnosed with dementia. As the dementia progressed, he needed more help and wasn’t able to find a spot for her in town. It took several years for Nadine to finally secure a spot at the La Ronge Health Centre.

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Veteri ended up making two trips to Regina to advocate for long-term care in northern Saskatchewan. The first time he met with the minister of health, but was unhappy with the results, so he launched a petition. He delivered the petition to the Saskatchewan Legislature in November 2019 with the assistance of Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette and the NDP.

“They didn’t even bother talking to me after the meeting, so I just carried on,” Veteri said. “I’d make the odd phone call and I’d keep approaching delegates up here with the NDP about it. Eventually one of the Sask. Party members did call me and said they were going to announce there would be a start on the project for long-term care.”

The idea for such a facility in La Ronge isn’t new, however, as $500,000 was spent on coming up with a concept in 2014 until it was cancelled in 2017. Veteri noted before he became involved there was already a dedicated group of people looking to make the project a reality. He said the cancellation hurt a lot of people who had put in a great deal of time and effort.

“The people before me put a lot more work into it than I did,” Veteri said. “They should be getting a little thank you for what they’ve done. None of this would have ever happened if that wouldn’t have been in place.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno