Fort Qu'Appelle hospital a go

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Fort Qu'Appelle is finally getting its new hospital, said the chairman of the Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital Corporation.

Construction tenders for the $12 million facility are to be tendered in a matter of weeks, said Ron Crowe.

The decision to go to tender was made after a Nov. 14 meeting of the project management team, in which all involved agreed on programs and services to be delivered by the new facility, as well as the building's design, he said.

"It's a feeling of relief and excitement by everyone involved," said Crowe. "It's been a long process by the many people who have dedicated themselves to this project."

Saskatchewan Health officials said that a letter giving final approval of the project will be sent to the holding corporation some time this week, he added, with construction on the project expected to begin by this spring.

Officials from Saskatchewan Health say the project still has to get final approval from the provincial cabinet, but already has the minister's approval.

However, said Crowe, the province's approval is a formality, as Saskatchewan Health's officials on the project management team are among the parties that approved the project at the meeting.

The province has already given its approval in principle to the project.

In addition to an acute-care facility with 14 beds and the usual programs associated with it, the new FQIH will also have programs designed to meet the medical needs of First Nations people, said Crowe.

At its bi-monthly meeting, also held on Nov. 14, the Town of Fort Qu'Appelle council approved a bylaw to close streets and lanes in the area, and to transfer the land those streets and lanes are on to the Treaty 4 Trust and Holding Corporation.

The land issues are one of the last obstacles before the tendering process can begin, said Crowe. The Town of Fort Qu'Appelle gave first and second readings to the bylaw for the transfer, but held off on third and final reading until the project was ready to proceed.

Crowe acknowledges that some issues still have to be worked out between the Town of Fort Qu'Appelle, which has a representative who sits as an observer on the project management team, and the Treaty 4 Trust and Holding Company.

"We have to come up with an infrastructure agreement with the Town for water and sewer and roads provision."

Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital (FQIH) was originally built in the 1930s as a tuberculosis clinic for treaty Indians. Non-Native people were allowed to use the hospital starting in the early 1960s.

Much of FQIH's operating budget comes from Saskatchewan Health, through the Touchwood Qu'Appelle Health District. But unlike other Saskatchewan hospitals, it's not owned by Saskatchewan Health, but by a holding company that reports to the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council.

The $12.5 million facility is to be constructed on Fort Qu'Appelle's south side, near the Treaty 4 Governance Centre.

Much of the money for building the new facility comes from a special $10 million federal fund which pays for capital expenses of providing health care facilities for First Nations people.