Fundraising efforts for the new Estevan Regional Nursing Home (ERNH) received a major boost recently with a significant donation from a regional business.
Percy Davis Brokerage of North Portal has committed $250,000 toward the Hearthstone Community Campaign. Hearthstone is the official fundraising arm for the campaign that has the mandate of raising $8 million for a new nursing home which will represent 20 per cent of the anticipated total cost of the project.
"I've been involved with the committee to raise funds for the new building, and I really came to believe in this project," said Alan Davis, who represented Percy H Davis for the official announcement.
A new long-term care home, on the grounds of St. Joseph's Hospital, is in the planning stages. The state-of-the-art facility will cost about $40 million to build with the province picking up the rest of the capital cost.
The donation from Davis puts the local fundraising total over the $1 million mark (cash and pledges) with plenty of donor opportunities remaining within the Estevan and area communities.
"This is an amazing accomplishment," said Hearthstone committee chairman Don Kindopp. "We haven't even started our public campaign yet, and we've topped the $1 million mark."
Kindopp said all donations to date have come from individuals, businesses and service groups.
"The best is yet to come for this campaign," he said. "We have been meeting with groups in this community who have a history of tremendous generosity. Although we still have a way to go to reach the $8 million that we need, our committee has high hopes."
Davis said the decision to donate was in the genes.
"If you look at the plaque at the hospital, when they built it, there's my eldest brother, Percy Davis listed there for $200,000 back about 20 years ago. So I guess it's in our blood to try and make a difference in the community. I knew from visiting friends from North Portal who were living at the Estevan nursing home and seeing the present facility, that we needed a new one."
The Sun Country Health Region has completed an assessment of the current nursing home, built in 1966. The report finds deficiencies in the building. For example, residents' rooms are 45 per cent smaller than what is required by today's standards, leaving very little space for storage of personal items. As well, building layout does not meet provincial standards for communication among staff.
"The current nursing home is obsolete and cramped. Rooms are half the size of today's requirements, meaning it's difficult to accommodate the modern lift equipment now in use. The need is urgent," said Kindopp.
"The idea now is to build the new long-term care home next to the hospital, and to put a connecting corridor between the two would be ideal," said Davis. "But at this point all of the planning details are still up in the air. We are working to raise funds for the health region, who, in turn, will work with the Ministry of Health. The province makes the ultimate decision about the new nursing home. We can hope to influence them with dollar signs."
The Hearthstone campaign has also just recently received other major donations from the Estevan Lions Club of $30,000 and the Estevan Rotary Club with $100,000 which brought the committee closer to the $8 million goal for locally raised funds.
The committee is winding up the first year of a five-year commitment to raise the necessary money to realize the goal of building a new long-term care home for approximately 85 residents.
The current ERNH is located on Wellock Road on the city's north side.
