Gary Veteri doesn’t know where his wife Nadine will have to live in the near future, but it likely won’t be in their home of La Ronge, Sask.
Nadine was diagnosed with dementia about six years ago, and Veteri said she’s getting to a point where she will need to live in a long-term care facility.
“She’s ready for placement now. My options are three or four hours away to visit her because there’s no room in La Ronge for her,” he said.
“I have my business up for sale because if I have to move her, I have to sell and move. I can’t afford to keep two households going. It’s impossible.”
Currently, Veteri takes care of Nadine in the evenings, mornings and weekends. She receives home care while Veteri runs his auto shop.
Veteri travelled to Regina on Monday to deliver a petition to the legislative assembly, calling on the province to make good on a promise to build a replacement long-term care facility in La Ronge.
The plan to build the facility was announced in 2014, and came with a $500,000 planning budget. Veteri said he hasn’t heard any concrete update beyond things are still in the planning phase.
Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette raised Veteri’s issue in question period. He said the need for long-term care in the north would allow many other families to keep their loved ones close to home.
“They’re tired of taking their loved ones down south, and that’s where they get placed because they have choice, and then they pass away and they bring them home to bury them,” Vermette said.
Rural and Remote Health Minister Warren Kaeding said the government has put major investments into the north, pointing a number of road and infrastructure projects.
As for the La Ronge long-term care home, he said the planning continues.
“Unfortunately, that’s still the answer. We’re working on the plan. We have to establish our priority of facilities across the province,” Kaeding said.
“We inherited a lengthy list of projects that needed to have upgrades and replacements. We’ve done a very good job I believe of replacing 14 of those to date.”
When it comes to planning what communities will see new long-term care homes, Kaeding said the ministry considers factors like population, geography, how many nearby communities it could serve and the goal to maintain a balanced budget.
Kaeding has offered to meet with Veteri. When that meeting happens, Veteri said he has a simple message for the minister.
“Quit promising me something you’re not going to give me. It’s obvious they’re not going to be doing anything this year,” Veteri said.
“They talked in the house about infrastructure and stuff like that. You can have all the fancy roads and expressways, but without health and education, none of that means nothing.”
Comments