| Highways and healthcare focus of combined ratepayers' meeting |
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| Local Content - Local News |
| Written by publisher |
| Tuesday, 09 March 2010 15:53 |
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By Marcia Love Highway infrastructure and healthcare were the major topics of discussion at a combined ratepayers’ supper and annual meeting for the RMs of Carmichael, Piapot and Gull Lake in Tompkins on March 2. Jim Reiter, minister of highways and infrastructure, opened the meeting with a review of the province’s highways budget. He explained the budget for the past year was just over $600 million, the largest in the province’s history. “We’ve inherited a huge infrastructure deficit because (the highways) had been left in horrible decline for many years,” Reiter stated. “It’s going to take $3 to $4 billion alone to get the thin-membrane highways caught up.” He noted a cost of $600,000 to $700,000 per kilometre to rebuild the thin-membrane highways. “We’re getting there,” he said. “It’s probably not as quickly as we would like, but we’re working at it and we’re going to try to turn this thing around as quickly as possible.” Darryl Senecal, director of Division 6 of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), spoke on the province’s physician recruitment plan. He discussed the establishment of the Physician Recruitment Agency, which will be operational in the spring of 2010 to act as a point of contact for physicians seeking to set up practice in Saskatchewan. “(This) will enhance and co-ordinate recruitment efforts across the province, working closely with health regions and communities to address their physician needs,” Senecal explained. The agency will be governed by a nine-member board, consisting of the Saskatchewan Medical Association, regional health authorities, the College of Medicine, the Professional Association of Interns and Residents, SARM, SUMA, the provincial government and the public. Senecal, the SARM representative for the agency, said some of the goals being discussed include increasing the number of University of Saskatchewan medical graduates and Canadian-trained physicians practicing in the province, creating a more integrated recruitment process and enhancing the experience of the physicians seeking to practice in Saskatchewan. He noted the College of Medicine has hired a career development officer, who will assist with the recruitment and retention of U of S medical graduates to practice within the province. As MLA Wayne Elhard took the floor, the topic of discussion quickly became Maple Creek’s new integrated healthcare facility. He explained the many questions people had regarding the changes the new facility will deal with. “The questions will automatically be is it going to be the same that we’re used to? Is it going to have five or six doctors, and are we going to be able to get 24-7 care at the drop of a hat?” Elhard said. “The answer is probably no, but with the kinds of services that will be delivered with the new application of medical technology, nurse practitioners and EMTs we’re going to see a whole new dimension of healthcare offered to the Southwest.” |
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