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Things have gone from bad to worse for the Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford (SHNB), after reports of new problems with the building were leaked recently.
NDP leader Ryan Meili says the list of concerns with the brand new building continues to grow.
“We’ve heard from a number of staff working at the North Battleford hospital that alongside the insulation having to be replaced, the roof having to be replaced because it’s leaking, there are also a number of other problems with moisture where we have had some wards closed due to water and some areas closed due to mould as well,” said Meili.
“That is resulting in patients being moved around, and then on top of that you’ve got the water that you can’t drink because it’s got copper and lead in it.”
When asked about these newly reported issues, assistant deputy minister for the property management division of the ministry of central services, Nancy Cherney, said that not all of the reports were completely true.
“We have had some issues with leaking with the toilet supply pipe, for example, but there has not been any flooding in the hospital in North Battleford,” she said.
“The leaking that came from the supply pipe resulted in some floor and wall damage as a leak will do. But remediation work is underway to repair that leaking damage. There has also not been any mould detected. Because it is a hospital setting, we take very careful pains to make sure that the opportunity for mould is remediated before that even happens.”
Cherney said that leaks have been found in some toilet pipes and some of the showers; patients have been relocated while they address the problem, but she said reports of wards being closed down because of these leaks are also not completely accurate.
“I wouldn’t say that there’s been leaking everyday for a month, or anything like that. It’s a process that once there is an issue, you have to determine where there is potential for the issue to arise in other areas, so that’s the work that’s been underway,” she said.
“Parts of the hospital are not closed down. There are still some wings that are unoccupied … it’s my understanding that some of the residents or patients that have been in some wings where we are determining there has been some water damage have been relocated. But the hospital is not fully occupied, so we are taking care of those issues in the unoccupied areas as they arise.”
However, the closing of the parts of the hospital was confirmed in a statement by the Saskatchewan Health Authority that said, “The 24 bed admissions unit at Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford has been closed for the last six weeks due to water infiltration as a result of water issues from the showers. It will be closed until at least January.”
When he was asked what immediate actions he’d like to see done by the government in regard to the growing number of problems at the SHNB, he said he’d just like to see some honesty from the Sask. Party.
“How on earth do you have a brand new 2019 open building and you’ve got lead in the water? That is astounding to me, and it is absolutely this government’s responsibility to make sure the projects they are spending public money on are well-built to serve the needs of patients … they’e failed to do so, and we need a full accounting of exactly what’s gone wrong and why,” he said.
“[They need to] tell us everything they know, be straight up about what’s happening, tell us what the plan is to fix it and stop using P3s, because at the root of this problem is a process that doesn’t allow for the right kind of supervision oversight and accountability, and this is the kind of problems you get.”
Last week Meili called for a full audit of the building to find out all of its problems and who is responsible. The government said an audit will be conducted.
