A new secure patio addition to the Norquay Health Centre was unveiled during a ceremony on June 22.
Those in attendance were welcomed to the event with music played by the Whitesand Band of Kamsack sponsored by Leson’s Funeral Home.
“Norquay Health Centre may be a small nursing home, but it is well run,” said Karen Vogel, the emcee for the program and the secretary of the Health Centre Auxiliary. “Residents are treated like family in a family-like setting.
“I am very proud of our nursing home,” Vogel said.
Laura Dahl, a Norquay town councillor, welcomed everyone to the ceremony on behalf of the town.
“The patio is a great addition for residents to get out and enjoy Saskatchewan evenings,” said Terry Dennis, Canora-Pelly MLA.
Dennis remarked on how amazing the support in the community was to have been able to raise $60,000 to enhance the lifestyle of the residents in the nursing home.
Wendy Naclia, retired Norquay Health Centre manager and the contractor/director of the patio construction said that she had overheard a resident saying that she had felt like she was in a prison. This comment resulted in the idea of building the patio to give the people living there more freedom.
Fallon Hudye of Hudye Soil Services in Norquay had contacted Naclia saying staff at the company had heard about the project and wanted to help and theirs was the first donation.
“Families also gave support and donations,” Naclia said before expressing her appreciation and respect for Phyllis Olynyk, the present Health Centre manager, who “really took the reins after her retirement” and the staff “who are always working above par at the facility.”
Naclia addressed the residents saying she really hopes they feel at home at the Health Centre.
“Norquay is known as a place of excellence,” she concluded.
“Actions speak louder than words,” Olynyk said. “This patio is a result of actions.”
Olynyk commented that the staff, leadership and the community contribute to making the Health Centre a place people want to come and stay.
Linda Grywachewski and Deb Bates, retired Health Centre recreation co-ordinators, and Linda Osachoff, whose family member was a long-time resident, talked about the importance of the residents having access to the outdoors.
Grywachewski and Bates reminisced about the times when they would have to go looking for escapees who had yearned to be outside, or the residents who didn’t even know that it was summertime.
These people are from a generation that rarely spent time in the house, they said.
“To remove the residents from the outside elements is to remove them from life itself,” Osachoff said. They can now enjoy their freedom while being safe.
The Health Centre Auxiliary initially felt that $20,000 to get started on the patio project was going to be difficult but with the help of many donations it became more than possible, it was said.
Donations in excess of $5,000 were from Affinity Credit Union and Hudye Soil Services, while donations from $1,000 to $5,000 were from Norquay CIBC, Gary Cherewyk, Monsanto (Jordan Vogel Family), Norquay Health Centre Auxiliary, Norquay trade shows, Karen Griffith Memorial, Pelly Jamboree and the Elsie Martin Memorial.
There were also numerous donations made that were less than the $1,000 bracket, it was said.
Reginald Friday, a resident, unveiled a temporary plaque indicating the donors and levels of funding. A permanent plaque is to be mounted outside on the patio for viewing.
Wendy Naclia, Terry Dennis and Delphine Howard, the vice-president of the Health Centre Auxiliary, had the honour of ending the ceremony with an official ribbon-cutting to open the secure outdoor patio to all.
Everyone attending was encouraged to enjoy and look around the patio while lunch was served and the Glen Leson Band played.
