The Onion Lake Cree Nation has plans to expand its community health services.
The band and the University of Saskatchewan have agreed to add a nursing program to the other university classes currently offered on the reserve.
University spokesperson Heather Exner-Pirot says the community hopes to open a hospital in the near future.
“And Onion Lake requested that they educate some nurses and they plan in the medium term to open up their own hospital. So, the way that our program is developed, the first year is mostly Arts and Science classes and they can be taken fairly easily anywhere around the province. So we’re able to offer that first year Arts and Sciences with first year education,” says Exner-Pirot. “The students will be done their nursing degree in about four years from now and I’m sure they will hope in the next five to 10 years to have their own hospital. Of course, they already have a health centre so there’s lots of places for nursing students to go to once they become registered nurses on-reserve already.”
The agreement gives Onion Lake students the option of entering into the fields of either education or nursing, or completing prerequisites for other health sciences in Onion Lake.