Left to Right: VP of HR & Corporate Relations for SIGA Desiree Gervais, Chair of the Equip the Vic Campaign Pat Wier, Chair of SIGA’s Board of Directors Chief Reginald Bellerose, Wahpeton Dakota Nation Chief John Waditaka, Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Chief Peter A. Beatty, and Boreal Healthcare Foundation CEO Cody Barnett present the cheque from SIGA's donation. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Nick Nielsen

Hospital about 25% completed

SIGA donates $375,000 toward Victoria Hospital

Apr 23, 2025 | 2:47 PM

The expansion of the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert is quickly taking shape as the build continues, and on Wednesday they got a big boost towards completing the project.

Members of the community gathered in the cafeteria of the Victoria Hospital to unveil a $375,000 donation from the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA).

In their discussions with the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC), CEO of the Boreal Healthcare Foundation Cody Barnett revealed the money is going toward a pair of unique facilities aimed at the mental health side of a person’s recovery.

“This donation from SIGA is really remarkable. It’s a very, very meaningful donation in the areas that it will support within adult mental health and within the spiritual care center for First Nations and Métis Health Services,” Barnett said.

The new part of the facility will be geared towards two spaces. The first is in the mental health inpatient unit for a therapeutic art space where patients will have access to different ways of creating art to help them through their recovery if they are stuck in hospital for a long period of time.

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The second space is one unique to the Victoria Hospital, a space for a spiritual healing to allow a spot for indigenous and Métis people to combine traditional healing with their medical treatments.

Barnett added, “It’s really unique to our facility, we have such a large indigenous and Métis population that having welcoming spaces where traditional healing can coincide with western medicine is really important to the quality of care that we’re able to provide people. So the donation and the space that they’re empowering is really remarkable.”

Reginald Bellerose is the Chair of SIGA and he was there to present the donation. While the treaties do give all First Nations people a right to healthcare, the understanding of how to get through the system to receive the best care isn’t always there. Bellerose believes the facilities SIGA is supporting with this donation will help bridge that knowledge gap.

“It’s a tough experience sometimes because the lack of understanding of the people and who we are. Not all First Nations people speak English. Not all First Nations people understand the healthcare system. So, with this type of space, it allows for better understanding. I think that’s really the end result.”

As for the hospital itself, the build is moving right along as expected. Chief Operating Officer for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) Derek Miller said the hospital is currently on pace, on budget, and pairing the progress of the build with funding like this for the equipment inside, there are a lot of things to be excited about as the hospital takes shape.

“There’s been a lot of work by our teams working with the builder in order to finalize the design. We’re just finalizing the last details on the documents that they used to actually build the hospital and then, as you can see, they’re moving right along. We’re approaching probably in the next month or so to hit a 25 per cent completion of the actual build, and then concurrent to that we’re working to make sure that we’re going to be ready when we open up the new hospital in 2028 so that all the teams are all ready. We’ve hired additional staff and so on, so we’re getting our minds turning to that front as well.”

Miller expressed his gratitude to everyone that has had a hand in making this donation as well as the hospital project in general. With such a large community served by the Victoria Hospital not just in Prince Albert but the northern section of the province, seeing things like this come together is uplifting for Miller and the rest of the SHA.

“Thank you so much to SIGA for being such a great community partner making this kind of contribution, and the (Boreal Healthcare) Foundation and the Equip the Vic campaign. There’s just so much energy and spirit that’s going into that and it’s going to make a lasting impact for this community and the north.”

On behalf of SIGA, Bellerose added, “I’d like to thank the the people of Prince Albert, the local First Nations, as we’ve seen a couple of chiefs here today, 50,000 First Nations people in the northern part of Saskatchewan, and this is where they come. So I want to thank everybody for supporting the Northern Lights Casino and on behalf of the Board express gratitude for that support.”

Anyone wishing to make a donation towards the Victoria Hospital, can reach out to the Boreal Healthcare Foundation or visit the Equip the Vic campaign website for more information.