Shellbrook Chronicle Th The voice i off th the P Parkland kl d ffor over 100 years Shellbrook, Saskatchewan Friday, May 17, 2013
VOL. 102 NO. 20| PMR #40007604
www.shellbrookchronicle.com
The staff at the Shellbrook Hospital poses for a photo during a barbecue on May 9, one of many events being held in order to say goodbye to their old facility.
Hospital staff prepares for move A number of different emotions are surfacing as staff and residents prepare to leave the Shellbrook Hospital and Parkland Terrance behind in order to move into the new Parkland Integrated Health Centre. Patricia Couture, Director of Care at both the hospital and the long term care centre, is “very excited” about the move. She is quick to add, however, that other emotions are also at play. “Of course (we are) a little nervous as well. We’re dealing with lots of families, employees, as well as residents that have lived in the long term care centre, Parkland Terrace, for a number of years. So they are anxious about the pending move and the new site. But everybody is very excited and cannot really wait to be in a new work environment that is safe and so much better.”
Many logistical elements must be considered while planning the migration, everything from physically moving the equipment to ensuring that staff are prepared to function in the new facility. “It is very hectic,” Couture said. “It’s really about making sure that everybody is safe in their work environment, that everybody gets the proper orientation, that they understand fire safety plans and evacuation plans, and that they understand the new equipment that will be utilized. That’s really important. So it is a hectic time because communication is difficult, you’re dealing with over 150 employees in many different areas and many different capacities. But we anticipated that it would be hectic.” Couture offered up an analogy that might help everyone see just how much work they have ahead of
them. “It’s like you’re moving from your house, only this is ten times larger.” Couture also said that the transition period will continue long after the final box is emptied at the new facility. “We are looking at the month of June as a settling in period, especially for acute care services. We haven’t had full 24-hour acute care services for almost two years. We have significantly more doctors now, and we anticipate more coming to the community. That increases the services that are being utilized as well because people are coming back to the area for their ongoing health and education. That in itself is going to be a transition period. We know that six months in we’ll probably be making changes. Continued on page 2
Construction work resumes on Highway 40 Construction work has resumed on Highway 40, west of Shellbrook. The project began last fall but was halted when winter conditions took over. The project involves the stretch of highway that begins at the junction of Highway 3 and Highway 40, and extends 13.5 km southwest, all the way past Parkside. Kirsten Leatherdale, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Highways and Infra-
structure, commented on the project in an interview on May 10. “The contractor started that job last September, and now the contractor is back out on site to fix up the granular material, compacting it and reworking it, and then he’s going to start paving next week, hopefully.” Motorists in the area know that the break in construction made for a rough patch of highway throughout the winter
months. “It wasn’t in great condition,” commented Leatherdale. “There was some maintenance work done to that section over the winter.” Now that work has resumed, motorists can expect the project to be completed sometime in June. Until that time, however, some slow and difficult driving conditions will be present on the highway, and motorists are instructed
to use caution when navigating through the terrain and passing construction workers on site. “Traffic is going to be accommodated through the construction zone with pilot vehicles running traffic on the one lane,” Leatherdale said. She also posed a reminder that it is the law to slow to 60 km/h when passing through a construction zone. Continued on page 3
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