The South Central Health District (SCHD) will be hosting two public meetings in the district, one in Bengough and the other in Weyburn, to discuss the Tatagwa View long-term care facility and the Commission on Medicare report.

The agenda of the two meetings was brought up at the health district board meeting on Thursday. The first meeting will be held tonight, Oct. 24, at the Bengough Community Centre from 7 to 9 p.m.

The second meeting will be held at the Assembly Hall of the Souris Valley Extended Care Centre (SVECC) on Thursday, Oct. 25 from 7-9 p.m.

A presentation will be made by CEO Lee Spencer on the Commission on Medicare report, a document released earlier this year addressing sweeping changes to the Saskatchewan health care system.

Vice-president of operations Lloyd Searcy and vice-president of patient services Marga Cugnet will then give a report on the Tatagwa View facility.

Searcy will also give a financial update of the SCHD, and a presentation will be made on the SCHD's tobacco reduction strategy.

All members of the public are welcome to attend.

Staffing woes in the health care sector across the province can also be seen in the SCHD, as Spencer noted some concern to the board on Thursday over radiology services.

Spencer said the Regina-based firm which supplies the district its radiology services have had several of their radiologists quit, and are having trouble finding replacements.

"They themselves are trying to recruit one," he said.

Spencer said he has tried contacting the Moose Jaw and Regina Health Districts about sharing services, but there has been no answer.

The SCHD is also still down an orthopedic surgeon, after Vern Cooke retired about two months ago.

One of Cooke's duties was to do cast work, which is now done by physicians within the district.

The difficulty in finding such a surgeon, said Spencer, is that there are only about six in all of Saskatchewan; also, the educational requirements for such a position is a four-year course.

Searcy told the board that the fund-raising program for the Tatagwa View facility continues to move along.

A fishing derby was held on Oct. 13 as the latest fund-raising project for the long-term care facility. About 25 entrants braved cold winds to participate in a fishing derby on Oct. 13, which raised about $549 for the facility.

Searcy said he was hoping for more, but was satisfied with the amount, being the first event of its kind held by the SCHD.

About 11 of the $2,000 beds for Tatagwa View have also been sold, and four of the $50,000 "houses," or sections of rooms, have been sponsored by groups, including the Weyburn Co-op and the Weyburn Credit Union.

Board chair Ernest Elder noted that, when plans for Tatagwa View were initially announced, people told him that they would have trouble finding groups to sponsor houses, but they have in fact had more trouble selling sponsorship of beds.

Searcy said later that it actually hasn't been that easy finding "house" buyers, but they have been lucky recently.

"We were just extremely fortunate in the past while," he said.

Searcy said he is also hoping to be able to go to tender soon for construction of Tatagwa View's retention pond, which will be located in back of the facility.

The $17.5 million Tatagwa View facility is intended to provide a home-like living environment for 135 long-term care patients.