A formal cheque presentation took place at the St. Walburg Health Centre Monday, representing a community effort to replace old lab equipment.
Funds have been raised by the Town of St. Walburg, RM of Frenchman Butte, St. Walburg Royal Purple and the Twin Rivers Foundation to cover the costs for a new CBC machine and ECG for the health centre lab.
Speaking at the presentation, Town of St. Walburg Councillor George Prudat said, "About two years ago our lab technician, Judy Kozinski, retired. She had worked for many years and her retirement was well deserved. Despite giving Prairie Health North six months’ notice, a replacement lab technician could not be found. Our equipment was old and lab technicians would not apply for the position. Prairie Health North would not replace the equipment unless there was a technician to use it. It was a classic catch 22 problem."
Kozinski stayed on as the lab tech.
"That's true dedication and our community is so grateful to her," said Prudat.
When the St. Walburg Senior Citizen Action committee learned of the problem they sprang into action.
"Thelma Romphf and Elaine Reeves started a letter writing campaign raising awareness of the need for a lab technician. After several frustrating months they also started fund raising for the money needed to purchase a CBC blood analysis machine, a lofty goal as it costs $36,000 for a blood analysis machine. A second goal was to raise the funds needed to replace the ECG machine," said Prudat.
One of the first organizations to become involved was the Municipal Health Holdings Committee, which looks after health needs for the RMs of Frenchman Butte and Mervin plus the towns of Paradise Hill, Turtleford and St. Walburg.
"It is chaired by Red Pearce and that committee worked tirelessly doing what could be done to hire a new lab technician," said Prudat. "Our representatives on that committee are Councillor Ron Gory from the RM of Frenchman Butte and Councillor Lois Hawryluk from the Town of St Walburg. Thank you to that committee for all of their hard work."
The councillor explained, "The St. Walburg health complex is very important to St. Walburg and the surrounding community. This is where seniors receive medical attention; it means not having them travel to another community. To many of us travel is easy but that is not always the case for seniors, people that are ill or in some cases those that don't have vehicles. School enrollment is steadily increasing which in turn has seen an increase in the number of young growing families which need consistent access to modern medical care."
He continued, "We live in a diverse area where we have farming, ranching, tourism, oil and other heavy industrial businesses. That means all of these people need access to modern health services. Having a blood analysis capability is a basic need. Without blood analysis it means all patients would need to travel to a larger centre. In the summer, the St. Walburg medical catchment area grows to several thousand persons. They need medical care and this is their first stop, be it for a deep cut, an embedded fish hook, a burn or for a bigger accident. A blood analysis machine is a basic need and so is a ECG machine."
Prudat concluded, "Our community recognizes this need and this is why we worked together to raise these important funds. The residents of St. Walburg and the RM of Frenchman Butte are passionate about our health care complex. Once the residents knew the problem they got behind the fund raising."
Ceremonial cheques were presented to MLA Jeremy Harrison from Twin Rivers Health Care Foundation Inc. (Kathy Duvall); St. Walburg Canadian Royal Purple Society No. 201 (Honoured Royal Lady Judy King); R.M. of Frenchman Butte No. 501 (Councillor Ron Gory); and Town of St Walburg (Councillor George Prudat).
