The Sun Country Health Region will be stepping up its surveillance of the Souris Valley grounds to curtail extensive vandalism at the now-empty mental hospital/long-term care facility.

On Aug. 22, vandals broke a windshield on one of their vehicles and a window at the old library building, which the health region intends to use for maintenance services.

Vandals also recently entered the Souris Valley building itself and discharged all the fire extinguishers there, said Lloyd Searcy, vice-president of Corporate and Financial Services.

"Fire extinguishers can be worth $100 to $150, and there was a fair number of those that were expended," said Searcy.

As a result, the health region has asked its staff to increase patrols in the area. They will be taking licence numbers of cars out at Souris Valley late at night, and if necessary, they will be towed.

"Individuals on the property that are just looking for trouble will be identified, the police will be called, and if necessary, they will be charged," said Searcy.

The health region is chalking up most of the damages to teenagers and younger children. Hopefully the problem goes away with the start of school, said Searcy, but the health region asks local parents to keep tabs on where their children go at night, at least until winter.

"Somebody's going to get hurt at some point and we'd certainly like to avoid that," said Searcy.

This is not the first problem in the area; not long ago, the health region had to issue a similar warning about youths swimming in the retention pond near Tatagwa View.

The Sun Country Health Region is now reviewing the recommendations of a report based on the accreditation process it underwent earlier this year.

Mark Pettitt, director of Continuos Quality Improvement (CQI) and Strategic Planning and Communications, brought the report to the health region board's monthly meeting in Weyburn on Wednesday.

Sun Country underwent the accreditation process, which is conducted by the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation, back in May.

As part of the process, a team of external surveyors compares the region's practices to nationally recognized and accepted health care standards. One of the most important things that happens during accreditation is a self-evaluation by staff, said Pettitt; staff review their services and come up with ideas for improvement or practices they feel should be maintained.

The independent survey group returned with their findings earlier this summer, said Pettitt.

Accreditation is done every three years, so the health region has that long to study and implement some of the recommendations that were made, said Pettitt.

While costly, this process is important because it can help to standardize health care practices across the region, which until recently was three separate health districts.

"We want to make sure that, if we have something we're doing really well, we share this information and put in place across the region," said Pettitt. "We're generally talking patient safety or quality of care issues that are really paramount to people that we serve in our communities."

About 12 applications have been received so far for the position of CEO for the Sun Country Health Region, said chair Earl Kickley.

Advertising began last week in the Globe and Mail national newspaper. In the short time between the appearance of ads and the health board meeting, Kickley said the region received about three to four responses.

Most are from Saskatchewan, but applications have come from across Canada.

The Sun Country Health Region began its search for a new CEO following the grand opening of the Tatagwa View long-term care facility, when CEO Lee Spencer announced his retirement after 10 years of service to the region.

The health region has received several inquiries from Elgin Street residents about replacing trees that were taken down during the construction of Tatagwa View.

Searcy said the landscaping company hired to replace the trees, and do other work around the facility, has still not gotten out to Tatagwa View. The health region will try to put some pressure on the company through Dominion Construction, the firm hired to build Tatagwa View, said Searcy.

However, if the year-end comes and the landscapers have still not replaced the trees, Sun Country has committed to buying trees for the Elgin residents.

Searcy also said that, within the next month, the health region is planning to install a drainage pipe on the east side of Tatagwa View, with permission of the city, and asphalt the road leading into Tatagwa View.

The road from Souris Valley to Tatagwa View will deliberately be left as gravel, so the road doesn't become a "race track," he said.

The region is also installing some new windows at the Weyburn General Hospital.