Cheryl Harrison is the nurse manager at the hospital. Her career began in 1984 as a continuing care aid (CCA). At the time, she was living in southwest Saskatchewan, and that’s where the jobs were in healthcare. “I wasn’t able to go to school at that time, so I was a CCA when I was raising my children, and then after that I went back and became an RN (registered nurse),” said Harrison. She obtained her nursing degree in 2004, and has been working in Estevan ever since. “I love being a nurse to be able to support families and patients in their journey through healthcare,” said Harrison. “I think that’s really important, because it’s a stressful time for patients and families, and anything we can do to help that stress and help to improve their health is important.”
Estevan welcomes a new family physician
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Auxiliary treasurer Darla Wilhelm marvelled at the generosity of the Trofimenkoff couple. “It has been a really big godsend for us, and I’ve been quite emotional about it,” said Wilhelm, who noted the Trofimenkoffs were long-time supporters of the auxiliary. The auxiliary was going to tackle a smaller project this time, but they decided to fundraise for the x-ray suite after learning of the estate donation. “The x-ray equipment is getting older and breaking down, and it needs to be replaced, and we decided we wanted to do a complete suite,” said Wilhelm. The Trofimenkoffs’ niece, Debbie Lapitsky, and their nephew, Harvey Schindel, are the executors of the estate.
This addition will increase the total number of beds at the Estevan facility to 32 for treatment and six for pre-treatment. “It will mean a small expansion to the present location,” said St. Joseph’s Hospital CEO Greg Hoffort. “It means the hiring of some new staff, and this is with the expectation to start filling the beds later on in this calendar year.” It will likely mean the hiring of another five or six extra staff members. There is a “significant” wait list to get into the facility, Hoffort said, so the additional 12 beds will be welcome. Meetings will be taking place with Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions representatives on where they go from here, and whether the expansion will be on-site or if they start exploring off-site options.
The government also announced planning for long-term care facilities in Watrous and Regina. Don Kindopp, who is the chairperson of the new nursing home committee, noted it’s been about 15 years since the first discussions of a new nursing home were held. And it’s been six years since the Hearthstone Community Campaign reached its fundraising goal of $8 million, which was 20 per cent of the projected cost for a new nursing home and the amount needed to get into the queue for a new facility. But since Hearthstone reached its goal, the project has been in the queue for new long-term care facilities.
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