The future site of the La Ronge long-term care facility in La Ronge. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

budget

Province announces $20 million for long-term care facility, replacement of Montreal River Bridge

Mar 22, 2023 | 3:55 PM

The provincial government announced $20 million on Wednesday for the La Ronge Long-Term Care project as part of the 2023-2024 budget.

Construction of the 80-bed facility, which was first announced in June 2020 with an expected completion date of 2022-23, is yet to begin but is scheduled to start this spring or summer. The province is currently in the second stage of procurement for a main contractor with Graham Construction, Quorex Construction Services Ltd., and Wright Construction Western Inc. all under consideration.

The long-term care centre will be a three-story, two-wing facility that will include up to 80 resident rooms, kitchen and living areas, tub rooms, family rooms, a traditional healing space, a serenity room, and a commercial kitchen. The centre will also have home care, including wound care, dental, and podiatry suites.

This project also includes renovating the existing 16-bed, long-term care space to provide increased 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 La Ronge Health Centre, which will remain open during the renovation work.

Health investments include $55.5 million as part of an overall investment of nearly $100 million across government, to support Saskatchewan’s Human Health Resources Action Plan to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more health care workers and physicians. The budget includes $1.8 million for the Rural Physician Incentive Program to support physician recruitment and retention.

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The Office of the Provincial Auditor found the Saskatchewan Health Authority will need to hire 145 additional staff in La Ronge by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year. The new long-term care facility is expected to need approximately 103 continuing care assistants, 18 licensed practical nurses and 16 registered nurses.

As part of $62.8 million to repair or rebuild 14 bridges and replace more than 100 culverts across the province, the Montreal River Bridge on Highway 2 in Air Ronge will be replaced. The budget didn’t include the exact cost of replacement or detail a specific timeline.

An additional $6 million will be spent on the preservation and maintenance of northern roads that support the province’s forestry industry. Other projects in northern Saskatchewan include gravel road improvements on Highway 924 northeast of Green Lake, continuing to work on Saskatchewan’s portion of the Garson Lake Road, sealing the runway, taxiway and apron at Pelican Narrows Airport, and the extension and sealing of the runway at Sandy Bay Airport.

larongeNOW reached out to Cumberland NDP MLA Doyle Vermette, Air Ronge Mayor Julie Baschuk and La Ronge Mayor Joe Hordyski, who were all unavailable to provide a reaction to the budget by publishing.

Overall, the province is expecting a $1-billion surplus for the 2023-24 fiscal year, buoyed by tax revenue and strong resource revenue. There are no new tax increases or expansions, but there also aren’t any new tax reductions. The province will be using the entirety of that $1 billion surplus to pay down debt. That will save $44 million in interest costs this year.

Total revenue is forecast at $19.7 billion for 2023-24, up 14.7 per cent from last year. The total expenses for the coming year are expected to be $18.7 billion, up 5.9 per cent from last year.

Read more about the 2023-2024 provincial budget online here.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno