by Joe Hargrave
MLA Report
The Victoria Hospital project is moving ahead with the selection of Stantec Ltd. as the team responsible for technical advisory work and leading the design of the expansion and renewal. Stantec will begin work immediately, which will lead to a multi-stage procurement for design and construction this fall. The actual construction phase is expected to begin in 2022.
The project – expected to cost more than $300 million – includes a new acute care tower, the replacement of the existing mental health space and renovations to the current facility. The total number of beds available is expected to increase by approximately 40%, with space to expand further as needed. This is a significant investment that will serve not only the people of Prince Albert, but the entire northern half of the province for years to come.
This week our government released a three-step plan to gradually lift the current public health orders based on vaccination thresholds, vaccine availability, and timing between steps. This plan provides an incentive to follow public health measures and get vaccinated.
Step One will commence three weeks after 70% of residents age 40 and above have received their first dose, and once vaccine eligibility has opened to all adults age 18 and older. This will see the cautious easing of public health measures, including:
- Restaurants and bars open, maximum of six at a table, two metres or structural barriers between tables, dance floors and buffets remain closed, VLTs may re-open;
- 30% of capacity or 150 people, whichever is less, at places of worship, with physical distancing between households;
- Group fitness classes involving intense training, like aerobics and spin, can resume, with three metres between participants;
- Current restrictions remain in place for retail, personal care services, event facilities, casinos, bingo halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and recreational facilities;
- Current protocols remain in place for primary, secondary and post-secondary education and for childcare;
- Limit of 10 people at private indoor and outdoor gatherings, including household gatherings;
- Limit of 30 people at public indoor gatherings;
- Limit of 150 people at public outdoor gatherings; and
- Current province-wide masking mandate remains in place.
Step Two will commence three weeks after 70% of residents age 30 and above have received their first dose, with at least three weeks passing since the commencement of Step One. Public health measures in Step Two are planned to be eased as follows:
- No capacity thresholds on retail and personal care services, must maintain an occupancy that allows for physical distancing;
- Restaurants and bars will have no table capacity thresholds, must maintain two metres of physical distancing or structural barriers between tables, dance floors and buffets remain closed;
- 150-person maximum capacity at event facilities, casinos, bingo halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and recreational facilities, must maintain an occupancy that allows for physical distancing, restaurant guidelines apply at venues that serve food;
- No change from Step One at gyms and fitness facilities, primary, secondary and post-secondary education and childcare;
- All remaining restrictions on youth and adult sports will be lifted;
- Limit of 15 people at private indoor gatherings, including household gatherings;
- Limit of 150 people at public indoor gatherings and private and public outdoor gatherings; and
- Current province-wide masking mandate remains in place.
Step Three will commence three weeks after 70% of residents age 18 and older have received their first dose, with at least three weeks passing since the commencement of Step Two. In Step Three, most remaining restrictions will be lifted. Guidance on gathering sizes and indoor masking will be developed based on the progress of the first two steps. Public health orders from Step Two on gathering sizes and indoor masking will remain in place until that guidance is finalized.
I am encouraged – just in time for Mother’s Day – that seniors living in our long-term care and personal care homes are starting to see their families again after a year of difficult but necessary restrictions. Long-term care and personal care home residents are now able to welcome up to two visitors at a time indoors and up to four visitors at a time outdoors if at least 90% of the residents in that facility have been fully vaccinated, and three weeks have elapsed since the last second dose vaccinations. Seniors who are fully vaccinated will also be able to leave the facility and return without having to quarantine. This is a small step in getting back to the people we love to see and the places we love to go and the things we love to do.
Thank you all for everything you have done over the past year. You are making Saskatchewan a safer place. Please keep protecting yourselves and those around you by following all the public health orders and guidelines and – when it’s your turn – roll up your sleeve and stick it to COVID.
