New hospital opens its doors

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Goodbye Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital. Hello All Nations Healing Hospital.

It's not the only change Qu'Appelle Valley residents will see when it comes to their heath care. At a ceremony June 12, officials from the federal, provincial and municipal governments joined File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council (FHQTC) representatives to officially open the All Nations Healing Hospital. Because of torrential rains during the previous two weeks, the opening ceremonies were moved to the Fort Qu'Appelle Rexentre.

The ceremony capped 18 months of construction and years of lobbying and negotiations for a replacement for Fort Qu'Appelle's hospital.

"This has been in the making because of the efforts of my predecessors," said FHQTC representative president Dean Bellegarde, who is also the chair of the hospital board.

"The list goes on from Eldon Bellegarde to Perry Bellegarde to Ron Crowe," Dean Bellegarde said in an interview. "I may be here at the end, but I can't take any of the credit for their work. They were the ones who led the negotiations, who did all the work ... I could go on and on thanking all the people who put this together. This is their day."

Crowe, who left the FHQTC last fall, represented the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) at the opening ceremony.

"I was thinking as I saw the new hospital, 'Pinch me, I'm dreaming,'" Crowe said in his speech to the 250 who attended the opening ceremonies. Crowe is now assistant director of health services for the AFN.

Bringing greetings from AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine, Crowe said the new hospital will combine 21st century technology with Aboriginal values and traditions.

"The All Nations Healing Hospital stands as an example of health care delivery for First Nations and non-First Nations people," he said.

As the new hospital neared completion, the Elders' advisory council said the new hospital should have a new name. Symbolizing the important role youth will play in the development of Aboriginal and Saskatchewan society, two students from area schools-Chelsea Isnana, a Grade 7 student from Standing Buffalo school and Emily Poitras, an eight-year-old girl from Peepeekisis First Nation-unveiled the sign for the new hospital.

The new name emphasizes the fact that the hospital is designed to meet the medical needs of all residents in the Fort Qu'Appelle area, whether they are Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal.

In his speech, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Vice Chief Morley Watson compared the building of the new hospital to the midget hockey team he coached to provincial A championships last winter. That team of six Aboriginal and seven non-Aboriginal young men, "came together for a common goal," he said.

Thanking Fort Qu'Appelle Mayor Julian Wira for his assistance in local fundraising for the hospital, Watson added, "Without the partnerships between the different peoples of the Qu'Appelle Valley, we would have never reached the achievement we've made today."

The new hospital features 13 acute-care beds, a palliative care bed, a large diagnostic area and support services. Unlike most other hospitals in rural Saskatchewan, the All Nations Healing Hospital also has a Shared Vision Centre that will provide mental health services and a spiritual/cultural program.

"A lot of times, people are sick, not only our people," said Mike Pinay, an Elder who will be working as a counsellor with the Shared Vision Centre.

"It has to do with emotion, the lack of spirituality.... If we keep those kinds of bad feelings within ourselves, it makes us become sick. This is actually preventative medicine."

The facility replaces the old Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital, which opened in the 1930s and was last expanded in the mid- 1950s. From its opening until the early 1960s, the hospital was open for Aboriginal people only. Non-Native people weren't allowed to become patients until the federal government changed its policies.

The federal govrnment transferred operational control of the hospital to the FHQTC in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s, the federal and provincial governments reached an $11 million deal to provide funds to build new health care facilities in areas with a high First Nations population. This funding agreement paid for health care facilities in the Athabasca Basin, La Ronge and Fort Qu'Appelle.

The federal grant made up the majority of the Saskatchewan government's $11.2 million payment to build the new hospital.

Under a funding agreement between the provincial government and the FHQTC, the province paid to construct the new hospital while the tribal council will pay to furnish and equip the facility. The FHQTC has already raised $1.2 million, but the fundraising isn't over. The hospital board has created a volunteer committee to raise another $500,000.

The hospital will operate as an independent non-profit corporation affiliated with the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Authority.