Lanigan mayor Tony Mycock went to the legislature Wednesday to ask the government the same question he’s been asked by his town’s residents – when is the hospital going to re-open?
Closed as what was thought at the time to be a temporary measure in May, 2020 in the early stages of the pandemic, Mycock said he’s gotten no response from the province when it will re-open.
“It’s just the uncertainty,” said Mycock. “We have a great ambulance and they’ve been run off their feet because they’re transporting patients to Humboldt or Saskatoon. We can’t even go get a tetanus shot in town. We have two really good doctors and we’re not utilizing those doctors. It’s just frustrating for everybody because we’re travelling and no answers.”
Residents of Lanigan, Drake, Nokomis and Jansen were using the facility. Nutrien and BHP mines are in the area, and an upswing in production is expected with the $12 billion expansion to BHP’s Jansen mine.
“We’ve had people move back to the community because we had a hospital and now we don’t,” Mycock said. “Are we going to lose those people to the bigger centres to be able to access health care?”
The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party brought health care facility concerns from Lanigan and other places to the legislature Wednesday.
Everett Hindley, minister or rural and remote health, said they have a four point plan to address the health care shortages and service disruptions and that it’s a priority for the government. Hindley said they are working at setting up a meeting with Lanigan to restore services there.
Mycock has been frustrated by not getting a response from the province.
“We have a really great medical clinic, which is the Lanigan and District Medical Clinic,” he said. “We’ve suggested (to) have a triage in the medical clinic that they can perform some procedures, and we’ve gotten nowhere with it.”
