Fundraising efforts begin for hospital

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Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital (FQIH) officials have begun a campaign to raise $500,000 for new equipment and furnishings for the hospital, which is slated to open in the summer of 2004.

"We want to make sure we have state-of-the-art equipment and comfortable rooms in a professional environment in the new facility," said the president of the FQIH Holding Company, Ron Crowe.

While as much medical equipment and furnishings will be transferred from the old hospital to the new facility as is possible, some equipment will have to be replaced, either now or in the future, Crowe said.

"In a changing environment of health care technology, you have to keep up with the times. We want to make sure we have sufficient resources now and in the future to make sure we are able to replace any machines that break down or become obsolete."

In late August the hospital's board of directors set up a fundraising committee to begin the campaign, which will be working to raise money to meet both current and future needs of the hospital.

"They'll be going out in the next little while to solicit support, activity and funds," he said. "We have obtained charitable status, so all donations will be tax-deductible."

Anyone donating $200 or more will be recognized on the donor board, which will be located in a prominent location within the new hospital.

"We're also giving organizations and people the opportunity to furnish a room-furnish it with a bed, nightstand, chairs, and painting and decorating the hospital room," Crowe said. "Those costs are about $6,000 a room."

The new hospital will offer 14 acute-care beds, laboratory and x-ray facilities, a multi-purpose room that could be used for a dialysis treatment center in the near future, and an ambulance bay.

It will also have space for First Nations health services, including a 'shared vision' center to deal with the legacy of residential schools issues, and an Elders' healing lodge.

Construction on the facility began this spring, and the new facility is to receive its first patients in the summer of 2004.

In Saskatchewan, it's customary for the provincial government to pay for 65 per cent of construction costs for a new hospital. The community, through the health district and fundraising efforts, pays for the remaining 35 per cent, plus the costs of equipping the hospital, ranging from medical equipment to furnishings and bedding.

In 1996 the federal and Saskatchewan governments signed a funding agreement to build hospitals for First Nations health services. This allowed for the construction of three hospitals, including the new FQIH.

The federal government contributed $11.2 million for the projects, which also included hospitals in Stanley Mission and La Ronge. The Regina Qu'Appelle Health Authority and the FQIH Holding Corporation will also spend $1.545 million for hospital expenses and related equipment.