Officials attending a gravel-turning ceremony didn’t push the shovel very far into the tightly packed surface of the Flin Flon General Hospital parking lot.
Nor did they have to.
Behind them, visible through a metal construction fence, sat a giant crater that represents the future of emergency medical care in the region.
“We have waited for this for a very long time,” Helga Bryant, CEO of the Northern Health Region (NHR), said at the Thursday, Sept. 15 ceremony to mark the start of construction of the new hospital emergency department.
“Once this project is complete, we will be able to provide the residents of Flin Flon and area with modern space that meets current health-care standards that are hugely lacking in the current space, and at the same time ensuring that staff have an efficient and safe, effective place to practise their professions.”
Bryant recalled how when a start date for
ER construction was announced in 2014, the NHR had about 18 months to prepare before shovels hit the ground in what was then the hospital’s front parking lot.
“We were a bit daunted by that task and wondered if it was possible to even accomplish that,” she said. “But with the dedication of our staff and the collaboration of our community, local partners and government, [working] together [got] us where we stand today: the beginning of our new emergency department.”
Rick Wowchuk, the Swan River MLA who attended the ceremony on behalf of Health Minster Kelvin Goertzen, said the new ER will “open the doors” to improved emergency care.
Wowchuk listed some of the features of the facility, such as the trauma room and improved layout, and touted the project as a way to attract health-care professionals.
“We all know it’s a very big challenge now in a lot of the remote communities to be able to retain a lot of our staff, and this facility will definitely be an asset in fulfilling that,” he said. “Health-care providers want to work in a modern environment that [is] spacious, clean and safe. Once the project is complete, we believe the Region will be in a stronger position to recruit health-care providers to the community for the long-term.”
Wowchuk said the project also represents a boost for the local economy, as he was told most of the people working on the ER are from the Flin Flon area.
Flin Flon mayor and NHR board member
Cal Huntley said the new ER will be “an unbelievably significant addition to much-needed [health care] infrastructure.”
“We know it’s going to be successful and it’s going to change the nature of the community,” he added.
Huntley and five other delegates – Bryant, Wowchuk, head contractor Sean Fehr, NHR executive director of Flin Flon area clinical services Lois Moberly and Northern Health Foundation vice-chairman Doug Lauvstad – took turns pushing the head of a shovel through the gravel parking lot.
Lauvstad addressed the gathering on behalf of the foundation, which is working to cover the community fundraising component of the project. He said the construction marked “a historic day.”
Lauvstad earned applause when he said there is $668,000 left to raise for the ER, thanks in part to major donations of $100,000 from the Town of Creighton, nearly $100,000 of in-kind donations from the City of Flin Flon and $20,000 from the Northern Village of Denare Beach.
Tom Therien and Dave Kendall of North of 53 Consumers Co-op added to that total, presenting Lauvstad with a $5,000 cheque on behalf of the cooperative.
The new ER comes with a price tag of $25.2 million. The facility is expected to open in December 2017.
See Friday’s Reminder for in-depth coverage of the ER and information on Saturday’s fundraising day for the project.
