Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford (SHNB) is a public

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the Town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The Batt ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. It is owned by the Government of Saskatchewan and operated by the

Saskatchewan Health Authority The Saskatchewan Health Authority is the single health region of the province of Saskatchewan. It is a health authority providing direct and contracted health services including primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary care, home and communit ...

. The facility has 284 beds in total, including a 96-bed secure unit for offenders with mental health needs. The new facility includes a number of modernizations to improve patient care, including: * 32 more beds (an increase from 156 to 188), * A "home-like" rather than institutional atmosphere, * Scenic placement on the

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventual ...

with maximized views of nature from inside, and * A

cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...

system to reduce its environmental footprint. The project was announced in 2011 and began construction in September 2015. It held its grand opening March 14, 2019. The Government of Saskatchewan committed $407 million to the project, which covers design, construction, and 30 years of maintenance. Of this, approximately $222 million is attributable to construction. The project is proceeding as a public-private partnership (P3). Financial analysis by

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

indicated a P3 would save $90 million (18%) over the life of the project, versus a typical government-led project. Design, construction, and maintenance are the responsibility of a group named Access Prairies Partnership, led by Graham. The construction effort created more than 1,500 jobs in the province.

Original hospital

Built between 1911 and 1913, the facility in North Battleford was the first mental health hospital to be built in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It had 156 beds. Prior to its establishment, patients were sent to hospitals in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. The first superintendent of the hospital was

James Walter MacNeill Dr. James MacNeill (March 24, 1873 – July 1, 1945) was the first superintendent of Saskatchewan Hospital, North Battleford for mentally ill patients in the province of Saskatchewan. He was born in Prince Edward Island, educated at Prince of ...

. The number of patients peaked at over 4,000 in 1946; with the advent of community care throughout the province the number of patients in the facility had dropped to under 300 by 1980. The original hospital was located at 1 Jersey Street in the

North Battleford Crown Colony The North Battleford Crown Colony (Canada 2011 Census, 2011 population 164) is an unincorporated community within the Rural Municipality of North Battleford No. 437 in Saskatchewan, Canada that is designated a census subdivision by Statistics Ca ...

, a

census subdivision The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of sta ...

adjacent to the City of

. The building was demolished in 2020, with the historic stone chapel, hand-built by a stonemason resident at the hospital; the Veterans’ Park; and three cemeteries preserved. The province used a drone service to take photos of the entire complex and grounds to keep as a record for the future, reflecting how the site once appeared. The Battlefords North West Historical Society had looked into the potential of having walking trails and interpretive signage that would document some of the history of the site

References

External links

Prairie North Health Region – Saskatchewan Hospital
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1913 Hospitals in Saskatchewan Hospitals established in 1913 Psychiatric hospitals in Canada North Battleford 1913 establishments in Saskatchewan