Health facility for band

By roger knox Morning Star StaffJan 28 2007 http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/

Two years of planning for a much-needed health facility on reserve moved another step closer to reality Friday for the Okanagan Indian Band. Health Canada signed a $1.7 million agreement with the band in a simple ceremony at the band office Friday morning. Health Canada will provide the funding for the 9,000-square foot facility, to be situated at the Head of the Lake on the old rodeo grounds. “This is a historic morning for our community,” said Chief Fabian Alexis. “It’s a good thing. Long outstanding. We have now reached our goal to have this facility in our community. We look forward not only to building it, but to sustaining it and keeping the facility as a first-class operation.”

The health facility, which will have an as yet unnamed historical Okanagan moniker attached to it, will be home to such services as public nursing, drug and alcohol counselling, a fully-equipped dentist office and the band’s community care program, which provides help to elders and handicapped residents. “We have planned for present and future needs,” said Donna Good Water, the band’s social development division manager, whose offices will also be housed in the new facility, along with community health representatives. “Obviously, this will be a huge addition for our community.”

The building will also house a lab to test drinking water. Bob Osborne, the band’s director of community development, hopes to break ground on the health facility by Feb. 10, if not sooner.
He expects construction to be completed in the fall. “The management of the project will be done by the band,” said Osborne. Health Canada had plenty of praise for the band’s planning and application for funding. “We reviewed the drawings and, when all was said and done, we were pleased to contribute,” said Yuji Komoto, a Health Canada senior project officer, who witnessed the signing of the official documents. The band also announced that, beginning in the spring, construction on a new assisted living facility will start. It will be housed directly beside the new health building.