ESTERHAZY — The new integrated health centre that will replace St. Anthony’s Hospital in Esterhazy and the local care home will see an extra quarter million dollars coming their way, thanks to what the provincial government has touted as “the largest investment ever” in health care capital.
Up some $180 million over last year, a total of $516.8 million will go to support ongoing projects across Saskatchewan.
“We have another $250,000 for planning dollars,” said Melville-Saltcoats 小蓝视频 Warren Kaeding of the Esterhazy commitment. “So that’s huge.”
The announcement reassures the importance of a new facility in the community, even if the project is still in development.
“What that basically says to us is that it’s money that allows them to go to the next level in terms of their planning stages, which is to make the site selection as well as continue on with the needs assessments,” said Esterhazy Mayor Grant Forster. “We know that it’s good news for us.”
The community has been fundraising for over 15 years on the new hospital project, with an estimated $11 million worth of cash and commitments to date.
“In the last two [provincial] budgets, we’ve got a total of $500,000—that’s money that they’ve committed to us,” Forster said.
In last week’s council meeting on March 27, CAO Tammy MacDonald mentioned receiving such an amount back to back is rare. Now that the project is in the second phase of development, future meetings with SHA are imminent.
“They did say they were going to call to have a meeting with us after the budget was released,” she told council.
