The Cypress Regional Hospital has been under the knife recently.

MLA for Swift Current, Everett Hindley, said the current repairs to the hospital’s roof are estimated at around $1.5 million. 

“They're trying to get that work completed as quickly as possible," he said. “I think the goal is to have the project completed by the end of April, but that of course is weather dependent.” 

The facility, which opened in 2007, had similar work being done just a couple of years ago relating to leaking in the roof insulation and to the exterior finish system.  

The previous roof repairs were initially estimated at $200,000, with the exterior work coming in around $1.3 million. 

“I think it's just a matter of different sections of the roof that are having to be replaced on the hospital,” Hindley explained. "Some time has elapsed here since the hospital opened its doors and was brand new, and it’s just some work that's needing to be done as time goes by.”  

This year’s work, which started near the beginning of February, is focused above the boiler room, the emergency room, and the ambulance garage. 

Hindley said the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) tends to keep a close eye on all their facilities’ conditions, tackling repairs as quickly as possible to minimize spreading damage. 

“There's a number of improvement projects that take place when it comes to any number of healthcare facilities that are owned and operated by the SHA,” he said. “Regardless of what the age is, we want to make sure that we're spending the money that we need to do to keep them in the best shape as possible and to try to extend the life as much as we can.”