REHAB PATIENTS DISPLACED BY PIONEER VILLAGE TRANSFERS
Concerns are being raised over a Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) decision to move some residents from the mould-infested Pioneer Village in Regina to space at the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre, displacing people who stay there while getting treatment.
Albert Konowalchuk has been bringing his son Edward Irvine from Togo to the rehab centre for 13 years, to do therapy for an acquired brain injury.
The family comes once a week for treatment and stays at the facility while they are in the city.
But that will change when 36 residents from Pioneer Village, which is currently moving a total of 94 residents to deal with a growing mould problem, are transferred into the hostel space used by the Konowalchuks and other families.
On Tuesday, the family received a letter indicating they would no longer be able to use the hostel accommodations available at the centre during their stays because of the move.
“Being there, it’s a handicap facility. It’s here, (Edward’s) got friends in there. He can move around in here, which is easier than a motel room,” said Konowalchuk.
“The challenge is for handicap people to get out, and this is for handicap people.”
NDP deputy leader Carla Beck says the Saskatchewan Party government failed to properly fund infrastructure projects for long-term care, resulting in a facility such as Pioneer Village deteriorating to the condition it is in now.
She says the province is now “downloading” costs onto families like the Konowalchuks.
“They’ve been made to find alternative accommodations in fairly short notice,” she said, adding the province has demonstrated a “failure to invest in maintenance, in preventative maintenance.
“When minor repairs aren’t made, they turn into major repairs,” she said, before calling on the government to come up with a long-term infrastructure funding plan with adequate dollars behind it.
Konowalchuk echoed that sentiment, saying the province “wouldn’t be in this problem” if it had invested in proper infrastructure years ago.
Debbie Sinnett, executive director of continuing care for the SHA, said Wascana Rehab is “uniquely suited” to accommodate Pioneer Village residents because of the space and supports available within the building.
“It was not an easy decision to make,” she said, adding they recognized the hostel service is convenient for families such as the Konowalchuks.
She said the WC Band S GI are working with families who would regularly stay at the hostel to find other accommodations, and that so far they have been “very positive and very understanding.”