The Wakaw Primary Health and Collaborative Emergency Centre Holds Open House
The Wakaw Primary Health and Collaborative Emergency Centre (CEC) held an open house at the facility during the afternoon of Thursday, May 30th. People were invited to tour the facility and learn about the many services offered onsite, in the community, and surrounding area. SHA staff from the local departments were available to discuss their services and answer any questions people had.
Sandra Wasylyniuk, Health Services Manager of the North East 6 Network, stated that they chose to host the open house at the facility instead of another venue so that attendees could become familiar with the location of the various services within the building. The staff were pleased with the turnout at the open house that led to important discussions about barriers to health, such as transportation and 'no-pet' policies.
Wakaw Primary Health and CEC offers several services, including laboratory tests and digital X-rays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on regular workdays. They also provide Home Care services such as acute, supportive, and palliative care; Chronic Disease Management with the services of a nurse, dietitian, and an exercise therapist; Mental Health and Addiction Services including a Harm Reduction Educator; Population and Public Health services focusing on community services such as childhood and adult immunizations, child health clinics, post-partum follow-up, breastfeeding support, and health education; and Physical and Occupational Therapy. Additionally, before the pandemic, retired nurse practitioner Jone Barry conducted nutritional cooking sessions in the kitchen, retained from the days when the facility was a hospital.
At present, Wakaw Primary Health has three doctors: Drs. Venne, Obamwony, and Thomson. During the summer, Dr. Tanyi-Remarck will fill in as a locum. Dr. Obamwony alternates between working one week in Wakaw and one week in Cudworth. The Nurse Practitioner position at Wakaw Primary Health is currently vacant with recruitment efforts ongoing. Once the NP position is filled, the nurse practitioner will see patients in Cudworth during the weeks when Dr. Obamwony works out of the Wakaw clinic.
Nurse Practitioner Carrie Su, based at the Duck Lake Clinic, conducts virtual appointments with some patients who wish to continue being seen by her.
In 2011 the former twelve-bed hospital was converted into a health centre after the community's last physician left. In October 2013, the Saskatchewan government announced in its throne speech the planned establishment of a collaborative emergency centre (CEC) in Wakaw, Shaunavon, Spiritwood, and Canora, following the opening of the province's first CEC in Maidstone. Then Minister Responsible for Rural and Remote Health, Randy Weekes, toured facilities in Nova Scotia in 2012 and stated that it was a model that could be used in Saskatchewan to provide better primary and emergency care to rural residents.
Before the hospital’s closure in 2011, the community had ‘on-again, off-again’ emergency room coverage due to physicians ‘coming and going’. Dr. Fred Cenaiko, before his retirement at the end of 2010, had been a permanent fixture in the community for fifty years, which allowed the hospital to continue taking in patients, but without a doctor to oversee their care patients could no longer be admitted. A hospital cannot function, and patients cannot stay overnight without a physician to provide service.
Wakaw's mayor at the time, Ed Kidd, expressed what many were thinking: once something closes, it may never reopen. The former hospital rooms were repurposed into offices and exam rooms for doctors, a space for physiotherapy, and rooms for various services. In 2014 the Collaborative Emergency Centre was established, providing the community access to urgent and emergency care outside the Primary Health Centre's regular hours. The Wakaw & District EMS staff the CEC daily until midnight, from noon to midnight on Saturdays, and from 8:00 a.m. until midnight on Sundays.
The Collaborative Emergency Centre model of care provides access to emergency care in smaller communities without hospital and emergency room services. This model is designed to tailor the level of service to the community’s needs. In collaboration with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, Wakaw & District EMS, along with their Advanced Care Paramedics and Primary Care Paramedics, serve Wakaw and the communities of Cudworth, Alvena, Domremy, Bellevue, Wakaw Lake, and all the surrounding rural areas through the Wakaw CEC, as well as their ambulance service. The paramedics assess and provide emergency treatments based on directions from off-site physicians located in Rosthern. The interprofessional primary health care team approach helps alleviate pressure on hospital emergency care while still providing capacity for handling unexpected illness or injury.
Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Wakaw Recorder
