Two of five closed beds being replaced at Deer View Lodge: Easton says Wawota's fight was worthwhile
October 3, 2012, 4:26 am
Kevin Weedmark
It's not the outcome he hoped for, but Save Our Beds Committee chair Dale Easton is happy to see two beds being added to Wawota's Deer View Lodge.
It was May of 2010 that the Sun Country Regional Health Authority announced that three long-term care beds and two respite beds at Deer View Lodge in Wawota would be closed in order to save $110,000.
Since then, Wawota's Save Our Beds Committee has been working to have the decision reversed.
They arranged petitions, held community meetings, kept the issue in the media, and took their fight all the way to the Saskatchewan legislature, and to Saskatchewan Health Minister Don McMorris.
Two years later, two beds will be added to the facility at a cost of $212,581 plus taxes.
"Do we feel it was worth it? It does put two beds back where there's a real need for beds," said Easton. "If we hadn't fought they would have got away scot-free shutting down beds there was no need to shut down."
"The fight was definitely worth it, or the case we pleaded was definitely worth it," said Easton.
"Does it make sense to any of us on the committee? No. The whole committee believes the beds could have been back where they were with some restructuring whether it be monitors or intercoms."
Easton said he is happy to know that the Sun Country Regional Health Authority has awarded the tender for the two new rooms, and the work will be done this summer.
"It is nice to know they are going to follow through on what they said they would do and put two back," Easton said.
He's disappointed that the goal of bringing back the five closed beds was not realized.
"Our ultimate goal was to get to the bottom of why they did it and get them back. We didn't really reach our ultimate goal but we did prove some accountability and they will put in two more beds."
Sun Country CEO Marga Cugnet said the bids for the work came in a little higher than expected.
"We had six inquiries and four bids that came to the region," she said. The tender went to Gabriel Construction of Regina.
Cugnet said the work should be starting right away, and estimates the work will take three to four months.
Cugnet said she's looking forward to seeing the work completed.
"I think it will be nice for the facility to get the work completed," she said. "These beds will be filled right away. There's still a waiting list."
One issue that the Save Our Beds Committee is still concerned about is the lack of representation on the Sun Country Regional Health Authority from the northern tier of the health region. The board has no members from Maryfield, Wawota, Kennedy, or Kipling-any of the communities along Highway 48. The former member from Kipling resigned after the board made the decision to close the five beds at Wawota. He said at the time that the board made the decision after being falsely told by administrators that the beds were not in use.
"We still don't have any representation on the board from our corner of the world.
"I don't know why we don't have any representation on the board," Easton said. "There's a board member from White Bear, there are Sharon Bauche and Allan Arthur from Redvers, but Kipling, Kennedy, Langbank, and ourselves don't really have anything. The seat from Kipling never has been filled."
