Construction of the Tatagwa View long-term care facility may be starting in just two months, as the Sun Country Regional Health Authority has only a few hurdles to overcome before it can start the tendering process.

Lloyd Searcy, vice-president of Corporate and Financial Services for the RHA, said Saskatchewan Health and the region have agreed on details such as the design of the facility, how many square feet it is, and so on. They have now received approval to develop construction documents and working drawings of the facility.

Once the working drawings are complete, said Searcy, "we will receive permission to go to tender."

Tatagwa View, once completed, will be Weyburn's newest long-term care facility, intended to house 135 residents in a home-like environment, as based on a concept of long-term care called the Eden Concept.

Searcy said that, after the stipulated sum tender is awarded to a general contractor, mobilization on the site will begin shortly after May 2. The construction is expected to continue for approximately 15 months - about half the time the RHA originally slated for construction.

"We had previously thought it was about 30 months, but the general contractors are indicating they can do it in 15 months," he said.

As part of the tendering process, Searcy said they are publicly requesting all local tradesmen interested in working on the Tatagwa View facility to submit their names to the RHA by the end of March.

What they will do, he said, is include as an addendum in the tender the name of everybody in Weyburn that is a tradesman looking for work.

"It's not a guarantee of work, because they have to make arrangements through the general contractor, but we want to make sure the general contractor is aware of how many plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters and drywallers we have down here who are looking for work. It's a substantial project and we want as many people from Weyburn to work on that project as possible," he said.

To this end ,the RHA will be holding a public meeting for those local tradesman and contractors to explain the tendering process and answer any questions. The meeting is tentatively set for Tuesday, March 18 at SVECC.

Once the tender is awarded, Searcy said the RHA will become much more active in fund-raising in the community over the next few months.

As well, the RHA is still looking for sponsorships of five "houses," or sections of rooms, within Tatagwa View, as well as 60 more beds at $2,000 each. They have been holding off on fund-raising until people can actually see construction going on at the site.

"We just want everybody to know that, once we've awarded the tender, we do need their support," he said.

Saskatchewan Health has requested Sun Country to develop a "performance agreement," a document outlining what are the expectations for each authority from the department.

The Sun Country RHA board received a presentation on the performance agreement at the monthly board meeting in Radville last Wednesday.

The aim of the agreement is to try and improve client service, said Searcy, because it will outline the standards there are for each RHA from the regional perspective. In the future, if the department wants a particular thing done, the region "will know whether we've accomplished it because we'll be measuring against those standards."

For example, in improving the rates for flu vaccination for people over the age of 65 in the region, the RHA would track the number of people who are vaccinated, and then work each year to reach a goal laid out by the agreement.

The region is still working on the document, said Searcy, and ultimately the RHA board will have to approve it.