ESTEVAN - The committee trying to bring a new regional nursing home to Estevan held a meeting with representatives from the provincial government on Wednesday.
According to a news release from the provincial government issued Friday morning, a needs assessment for the new building began in October 2022 and is now complete.
"Our government is pleased to see plans for the Estevan Regional Nursing Home moving forward," Rural and Remote Health Minister Everett Hindley said. "Infrastructure ventures require many partners and I want to express our appreciation of the Estevan Regional Nursing Home committee for their contributions and continued commitment to this project."
The future need for approximately 59 additional long-term care beds has been identified for the Estevan community through the needs assessment work. According to the government, his is expected to bring the total number of beds in the community to approximately 167 from the current 108 beds. A business case will be developed that will validate the bed numbers based on the cost estimates and other parameters.
The needs assessment work focused on current and future demographic trends, clinical needs, bed numbers, the condition of the current facility and the type of future spaces required.
"As the need for long-term care continues to increase in the province, the Saskatchewan Health Authority, in co-ordination with the Government of Saskatchewan, is pleased that we are able to address this need in Estevan," said Michelle Mula, the Saskatchewan Health Authority's quality, safety and chief information officer vice-president.
"Moving the project forward means that residents will be able to receive care closer to home in an environment that better meets their diverse health needs. Development of a business case for the project can now take place. This will help to inform an early cost estimate as well as the project's size, location and procurement approach."
"We are very pleased to see the Estevan long-term care home project moving into the business case phase," said Estevan MLA Lori Carr, the SaskBuilds and Procurement Minister. "This work will help bring this project one step closer to procurement, design, construction and ultimately opening to serve the Estevan community."
Business case development includes an analysis of location options; scoping of building and land size requirements; environmental and heritage reviews; a traffic impact assessment; utility, zoning, drainage and geotechnical scanning; a preliminary high-level cost estimate of each option; and a procurement options analysis to determine the best procurement strategy.
The business case phase prepares the project team to enter into pre-design and design, and supports the fundraising efforts by the community.
The 2023-24 budget earmarked $1 million for the Estevan long-term care redevelopment project.
The next edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
