YORKTON, Sask. — Saskatchewan NDP associate shadow minister of health Keith Jorgenson is calling on the provincial government to provide a firm timeline for the construction of a new hospital in Yorkton, arguing residents have waited long enough for a project that has been promised for years.
Speaking outside the Yorkton Regional Health Centre on Oct. 26, Jorgenson said the government should use the Oct. 27 throne speech to announce when construction will begin and when the facility will be completed.
"We're here in Yorkton today to again call on the provincial government to finally build a hospital here in Yorkton," he said.
Jorgenson characterized the project as a long-standing commitment that has yet to materialize despite repeated promises.
"Yorkton's a regional centre. There's people from the entire region that are served by this facility. A new hospital is long overdue," he said.
The Opposition MLA said the government's recent commitment of funding for preliminary design work does not go far enough.
"A little over a million dollars was put into pre-design work," Jorgenson said. "It's been 20 years. So, it takes 20 years to get to the point of a pre-design phase?"
He argued that while health-care needs evolve over time, changing conditions should not prevent progress on a project identified as necessary years ago.
"Twenty years ago, they identified that the community needed a new hospital. They promised a hospital. It's time to deliver," he said.
During the news conference, Jorgenson was asked about recent health-care additions in Yorkton, including new residency training opportunities and specialty services.
He acknowledged those initiatives as positive developments, but said they do not replace the need for a new hospital building.
"The government made a very, very specific promise about building a new facility," he said. "If you promise to do something as a politician, you should follow through."
Jorgenson also questioned the pace of planning for the project, noting concerns about the absence of a publicly announced construction timeline, site selection or other details.
"This is a large project. It's complicated," he said. "If there's no budget, there's no site … how is this going to be built if none of this planning work has been done and it's been 20 years?"
He said residents deserve greater certainty about the future of health-care infrastructure in the region.
"We're calling on the government to specifically release something with details so that the people of Yorkton know that they're going to be able to have a facility that they can count on," Jorgenson said.
The Saskatchewan government has previously said preliminary planning and design work is underway for a new Yorkton hospital, but no construction start date or site has been announced.
