Shellbrook Chronicle Th The voice i off th the P Parkland kl d ffor over 100 years Shellbrook, Saskatchewan Friday, May 10, 2013
VOL. 102 NO. 19| PMR #40007604
www.shellbrookchronicle.com
Flooding around Shellbrook Shellbrook and surrounding areas are certainly not immune to the f looding that has been going on throughout the rest of the province. While it’s not the worst case of f looding that the area has seen in recent years, some say it’s getting close. “I don’t know if it’s quite as bad as 2011 yet, but we’re working on it,” commented Bill Aug, foreman of the RM of Shellbrook. They knew that f looding in the area was a possibility, Aug said, and they were able to perform some preventative measures in some areas before the f looding began. They cleaned a few of the potentially problematic runs and got things ready for the inf lux of water, but, as Aug stated, “there’s only so much you can do.” Right now the focus is on fixing up the gravel roads. Water damage has made some roads impassable, and they are directing their efforts towards areas where people have been stranded because of the conditions. Aug assumes that they have at least a week of work left ahead of them just to patch up these specific spots. The work involves getting culverts back in place and filling some of the washouts. It’s difficult to assess how much total work is left because they are always discovering new areas that need fixing. One day this week they fixed three spots only to find three more that were in need of repairs, and they are working hard just to try and stay ahead of it. “We’ve worked now for two weekends in a row just trying to keep track of what’s going on,” Aug said. “Looking for washouts, looking for trouble.” Along with the gravel roads, the dirt roads that provide access to farmers’ fields are sure to need some work as well. “We haven’t been on any farm access roads yet,” Aug said. “We don’t know what’s out there.” For now they will rely on farmers contacting them about these damaged areas, as most of the roads cannot even be reached yet because of the wet conditions. “As soon as the roads dry up enough that we can travel on them, we’ll be out looking for (problems on access roads) too.” Continued on page 2
Vehicles splash through a wet patch of road on Highway #3 just west of Shellbrook.
Timelines announced for move to Health Centre Plans are in place for the big move from the Shellbrook Hospital and Parkland Terrace long-term care facility to the new Parkland Integrated Health Centre. The process will begin the week of May 20, and the new facility plans to open for normal services on Monday, June 3. A couple of different timelines have been laid out for the move. May 29-31 will see Parkland Terrace move all its long-term care residents, furniture and equipment into the new facility. This will also include the current alternative level of care clients at the Shellbrook Hospital. From May 27-31, all equipment from the Shellbrook Hospital, including X-ray and laboratory equipment, will be moved, and community-based program staff will also move during this week.
Many disruptions will be forced to take place during the migration. No Weekend Emergency Service will be available from May 24 to June 2. Regular weekend services will resume in the new facility at 6 p.m. on June 7 (weekend coverage is from 6 p.m. on Fridays to 8 a.m. on Mondays). Laboratory services will be limited to blood and sample collection only. This will continue to be offered at the Shellbrook Hospital May 27-31, but no testing will be done on-site. Community service programs based at the Shellbrook Hospital will not be available May 27-31. They will resume normal programming on Monday, June 3. Continued on page 2
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