The land blessing included a pipe ceremony and speeches from invited guests. (Submitted photo/Deepan Dasgupta)

By Derek Cornet

progress

Land blessing held at future long-term care site

Jan 13, 2023 | 4:52 PM

Leaders of the tri-communities came together Thursday for a land blessing where the new long-term care facility in La Ronge will be built.

Lac La Ronge Indian Band chief Tammy Cook-Searson, La Ronge Mayor Joe Hordyski, and Air Ronge Mayor Julie Baschuk were in attendance at the ceremony, along with other representatives.

“There were quite a few people who came to the land blessing ceremony,” Cook-Searson said. “It was just a really beautiful ceremony and the land blessing was a really good sign the way the weather was and with the sun coming out.”

In October 2022, the provincial government announced the construction of the new long-term care facility in La Ronge will begin this spring. It will consist of a three-story, two-wing building designed for 80 resident rooms, and includes kitchen and living areas, tub rooms and family rooms, a traditional healing space, a serenity room, and a commercial kitchen. Home care will include wound care, dental, and podiatry suites.

This project also includes renovating the existing 16-bed facility to provide increased La Ronge Health Centre space and improve several program areas, including home care, therapies, an adult day program, and a new hemodialysis unit. The new long-term care facility will be built adjacent to and connected to the existing hospital, which will remain open during the renovation work.

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Hordyski explained a non-profit has been set up to accept donations, and once the coordinator role is filled, there will be an organized approach moving forward to get the funding required for furnishings.

“It’s been at least a dozen of years,” he said of the effort to bring a long-term facility to La Ronge. “I was the chair of the health board last time and we were doing planning back then and there was hope that it would proceed. There’s been a number of people who kept working and pushing his project forward and expressing the need.”

According to the office of the provincial auditor, the Saskatchewan Health Authority will need to hire 137 additional staff in La Ronge by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year to staff the facility. Construction is expected to begin this spring.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno