Some of the ways you can show your appreciation to Outlook Health Center staff by writing a message on a white cross or wearing red
Outlook – The nurse starts the IV. A laboratory technician takes an X-ray of a child's arm. The doctor listens to the sound of the heartbeat. Blood is drawn. Nutritionists share their advice. Meals are provided. The schedule is set. We provide home visiting nursing care. Volunteers are being coordinated. Medicine was prescribed. Paramedics go to do a health check. Bedding will be changed. We provide foot care. Equipment is maintained. Vaccinations are available. A counselor will support you. The therapist will help you regain mobility. The floor will be cleaned. When someone leaves this world, their hands are held. All these and other activities are the work of her 110 people who dedicate their professional lives to caring for others at Outlook and District Health Centers.
The health center, located at 500 Semple Street, features an acute care hospital, long-term care home, emergency department, laboratory/X-ray services, treatment departments, mental health and addictions, public health, and home care services. Outlook Medical Clinic is also located on-site and is separately owned and operated. The range of services is vast, but what will be recognized this week is the hands of our staff and the thousands of footprints they take every day to care for our communities.
Robust health centers are an important indicator of a community's ability to care for its residents. Kevin Trew, Outlook CAO, explained: I can't think of another need that is as persistent as health care. ”
She said having access to a wide range of medical professionals is important if communities want families to feel safe calling their homes. No one can predict what services you will need and when. The skills and talents of the people who keep health centers running smoothly are critical when local residents need them most.
After her father, Oliver Green, was diagnosed with cancer in 2023, Kim Olson is grateful for the variety of services and care he received. We did multiple rounds of acute, palliative and home care,” Kim said. “What I've found over and over again is that these people are a tribe of their own. They're kind, caring, considerate, honest. It takes special people to help.'' Their care was directed not only to the patient, the father, but also to the family. “They learn to love and appreciate the patient, and they rejoice and grieve with you,” Kim said. “My father's case was a roller coaster, so I never felt completely alone.”
A similar sense of community is felt in the long-term care building, where the Fonstad family appreciates the nearby facilities. Olive began caring for her in Outlook in 2017, and her husband Russell followed in 2022. A spokesperson for their children said: The advantage is not just that the facility is close to home, but that many of the staff and residents have some kind of connection to us, and the facility itself is familiar to us. ”
The Joint Health Committee, made up of members from the RM of Rudy, the RM of Fehtil Valley, and the Town of Outlook, meets regularly to support the center's activities. Rudy's RM councilor Bree Campbell chairs that committee. Having this facility close to home means people don't have to travel to another location to receive services, and also people from surrounding areas who are likely to have other businesses here. She says she can call for it. She is grateful to her health center not only as a business owner who loves rural life while raising her children, but also as someone who has received excellent care herself. She was impressed by the cleanliness of the facility, the support she received from public health nurses even after she gave birth to two babies in four years, the quick response to emergency visits, the well-organized management of the clinic, and the efficiency of the laboratory. I mentioned various aspects such as management. She also spoke of the home care staff who cared for her during her cancer treatments, whose visits and her laughter healed not only her body but also her spirit. “They feel safe and valued because they receive care from people they know. We want them to know how important their work is to our community,” she said. Stated.
RM of Fetil Valley councilor Bob Silverthorne, who is vice-chair of the committee, said he has learned how important and difficult it is to keep facilities fully staffed. Stated. “It's hard to recruit doctors and nurses in small towns,” he says. “We have to keep clinics and hospitals open so people don’t have to go to town.”
Being close to home meant a lot to Oliver Greene's family. “We fought to get home,” said her daughter Kim. “They can't do platelet transfusions in Outlook and that was the main reason they didn't want to send us home, but we didn't care. It's so great for us to be here. It was important. Even though I was in the hospital, I felt like I was at home. Dad got more rest.”
She felt that she received adequate care from the various departments within the health center. “The support staff were great, especially the kitchen staff, who always had food ready for me even though I wasn't a patient and brought my dad whatever he wanted to eat.The cleaning staff… She always checked what I wanted to clean.”
Fonstad's family noted efforts to make care personal and said staff were always welcoming and helpful. One of the children said: “When her mother passed away, she received loving care from all the staff and so did we. We are grateful.”
It wasn't long after Kevin Trew started working at Outlook that he started relying on health centers. His family was camping at a local park when his daughter needed emergency services. Soon his wife started making plans to head to Saskatoon, but Kevin was able to tell them that what they needed was right at the top of the hill. “The time spent during the emergency and the high quality care we received quickly made myself, his wife, and our then-adult daughter attached to this community,” he said. She and her partner migrated to Outlook less than a year ago. Now they have children and call this place home.
Medical services are provided not only in the health center itself, but also in surrounding towns and rural farms. The Board of Health is focused on providing what we need today while preparing for tomorrow's needs. Bree Campbell said: “Our health authority is an incredibly complex system. We have really great staff who are doing their best to organize the resources available to them, but it's tough. Our region I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Joint Health Committee as I want to ensure that society has access to excellent local health services, both now and in the future.”
Securing that future begins with an appreciation for what we have here today, and that is behind the work of the Joint Committee on Health. Participating businesses are distributing white crosses on which the public can write messages of gratitude to public health center staff. The crosses will be displayed in the windows throughout this month, and True is looking forward to seeing them come to fruition. “The Joint Health Committee's main goal in this project was to ensure that we not only meet people whose work is caring and caring and thank them for their caring and caring, but that we are better because of them. It’s become a good community.”
Mayor Maureen Waiterman, who wrote a message the first day the cross was available, said: This is a small way to show that we appreciate you. This is a way to let them know that your work is highly valued. I cannot thank you enough. ”
Reflecting on her experience with her father, Kim Olson said, “I teared up a little bit, but mostly it was out of gratitude for the kindness he showed to both of us.'' Certainly his father felt the same way. In fact, he even remembers the moment he received the phone call that his father had passed away. When I arrived at the hospital, I was greeted with hugs and comforting words of condolence. It's a difficult time, but nurses are the people I want to see during such times. they are special people. I could never do what they are doing. ”
In addition to sending a message to the white cross, the community is encouraged to wear a red cross this Friday, May 17, to show support for the staff who serve us every day. I am. Kevin Trew summed up what many can share: “My personal experience with various staff members at Outlook Health His Center has shown me time and time again that this community is full of gems.”
