Health centre is group effort

Page 14

The newly built health centre that forms an integral part of the Morning Sky Health and Wellness Centre on Frog Lake First Nation is designed with present and future health care needs of the reserve's 2,000 residents in mind.

The brand new health facility was joined to an existing wellness centre at the north end of the reserve, to provide people with an impressive and extensive range of health services and wellness programs under one roof.

"The health centre is built just for Frog Lake; the wellness centre when it started was meant to serve . . . Saddle Lake, Goodfish, Cold Lake, Kehewin," said Health Director Doris Werstiuk.

"It's mostly the public health and home care portion and the medical transport" that are operating now, the director said.

"We're just starting . . . to do plans for training people (physical care aides or licensed practical nurses) for personal care in the community and increasing or expanding the home care program, the home nursing program."

The director says there will probably be physical therapy and occupational therapy programs and staff added in time. Negotiations for programs and services are ongoing with Medical Services Branch.

She said they may share trained therapists with adjacent reserves or hire their own, but it is not yet decided. They're also looking for a physician.

The multi-purpose building now has a prominently marked emergency room; a physiotherapy area with sauna, massage beds and a whirlpool bath; a wing for physical exercise; offices and examination rooms for the nurses and doctor.

Indications are the new pharmacy will be equipped and open soon too. For the future, space has been allocated for both dialysis treatment and an x-ray department.

UCG Universal Consulting Group took the lead role in the 11,600 square foot expansion.

Following design work, they started building the end of May last year and completed the work in in the first week of January 2000. The official opening was March 10.

According to the acting project manager, Paul Richer, "it was principally a doubling of their existing wellness centre.

"The significant thing about this whole site is that it actually has a spectacular view of Frog Lake, the actual lake."

Richer said his firm hired Kobayashi and Associates Architects and worked closely with them. Bexson Construction Ltd. out of Lloyminster were the general contractors.

"This was a stepping stone to (a health centre) we did similarly for the Onion Lake band (Saskatchewan), not far away," said Richer. "As a result of the Frog Lake people touring that facility they contacted us because of a lot of the things they liked in there."

The project cost for the one-storey building came in around $1.2 million. Another $200,000 brought water from the new water line at the school. "Of course there is additional new furniture budgets and everything else, so the whole thing was well over $1.6 million with furniture, water, signage, phone systems." The dentistry division that was operating out of the band office has moved into the new building, too, Richer added. "Well over 50 per cent of the building was offices," he said.

Richer points out the original building relied on well water, but astute budgeting allowed them to provide direct water to both old and new buildings of the health centre. "Health Canada didn't think we could do it, but we did it," he said.

Richer credits "good practical design on our part and the architects" for doing this on a conservative budget.

Werstiuk took over as health director in June 1999, after Karen Abraham vacated her office to take up a position on the band council.

"I came in just at the beginning of June last year. The construction and the planning were already underway," said Werstiuk. She adds there were many other community members who deserve credit for making the building a reality.

According to UCG's Richer, by eliminating frills while not compromising quality, they "came up with that $200,000" t bring in the water.Total local man days, meaning band members employed on the project, was 255. Richer says they offered local people work in the construction process depending on their availability. "In the end, I don't think it was a huge employment thing for the band, necessarily . . . because I think there was a lot of other things going on (such as) that water line construction."

Architect Dave Kobayashi says his firm was responsible for the design of the building, while Richer's company was the prime consultant "doing the nuts and bolts of it . . . besides liaison with the Frog Lake band."

So far as design went, Kobayashi said, they tried to respect the "conspicuous pyramid" already existing on the building.

Werstiuk says "I think it's a very well planned building. . . . it's a good facility and I hope that the programs that are run out of it are programs that will serve the community well. I also think that, you know, health is in people, it's not in buildings, and its in relationships and not really in programs, so I'm hoping that it will be a place that can bring people together to build better relationships and improved health care."

MSB funded the project, but did not respond to our request for information by press time.