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VIDEO: Shellbrook health centre nears completion

May 28, 2013 | 6:17 AM

The first long-term care residents will be welcomed into Shellbrook’s much-anticipated Parkland Integrated Health Centre on Wednesday.

They will be the first twelve patients in the brand-new facility, which will also provide full hospital services once it reaches full capacity later this summer.

Construction has taken about two years and cost more than $25 million dollars but the new health centre provides a much-needed upgrade over the old Shellbrook Hospital and long-term care facility, said Prince Albert Parkland Health Region communications officer Doug Dahl.

“Safety of patients and staff had become an issue just because of the age and design of the buildings so this new building is significantly larger than the other two combined. It has a lot more modern features and meets modern codes,” he said. “We think everybody’s going to really appreciate having a better environment.”

The three long-term care wings will house the same number of residents as the previous facility, however the quality has improved significantly.

“The long-term care wings … are really about embracing the concept of long-term care as a home as opposed to an institution,” said Dahl. “It’s really designed around the idea of having features of someone’s house, so that’s really what that’s about, trying to make as much of a home atmosphere as possible.”

Each wing has a common area with modern fixtures, a large kitchen with new appliances and features a muted, earth-tone colour scheme that stands in stark contrast to the institutional white and pale green seen in older facilities.

The hospital will become fully functional later this summer, likely no later than July, once doctors have been introduced to the facility and various procedures have been finalized.

“We have four doctors as residents in the community and a fifth one is scheduled to arrive soon. Once the fifth physician arrives, the region will continue discussions with all the doctors about how we will set-up an on-call schedule and how that will work to provide full hospital services,” said Dahl.

Right now, emergency services are only available at the old Shellbrook Hospital on the weekends. If a patient requires emergency medical care during the week, they are taken to Prince Albert.

However, once the Parkland Integrated Health Centre becomes operational, it will include a fully-functioning emergency department.

Over the next week, community-based programming staff will be moving into their new offices, equipment from Shellbrook Hospital will be brought to the health centre and the 12 long-term residents will be relocated to their new homes.

“It’s been a long time coming … we know the community is really, really excited that it’s finally going to be used and that’s important because they’ve done a lot of work and put a lot of money and effort, both financial and sweat equity into this,” said Dahl.

sleslie@panow.com

On Twitter: @_seanleslie