Weagamow nursing station closes due to overheating

Weagamow is feeling a sense of relief after two air conditioners were installed in the Sena Memorial Nursing Station on July 7.
“What we have now is a band-aid solution to a big problem that’s been an ongoing problem,” said Doug Beardy, maintenance man at the Sena Memorial Nursing Station. “We have one installed in the waiting room and one installed in the front reception area where all the offices are. But all the other offices don’t have any (air conditioners).”
The air conditioners were installed after the nursing station staff held a protest on July 5 after evacuating the building due to overheated conditions, with the temperature reaching 85 Fahrenheit on a humidex scale.
“It was really hot last week all over — we had sort of a heat wave,” Weagamow band councillor Grace Matawapit said on July 8. “It’s been an ongoing thing every summer — the clinic gets really hot — but this year it was worse.”
Matawapit said the health station will be receiving a central air conditioning system this September, noting the band had already received a letter stating the funding was approved.
“I don’t think the staff was aware that it was coming,” Matawapit said. “They just assumed that nothing was being done about it, but that letter stated that they would be doing something about the problem.”
Matawapit said there haven’t been any complaints from patients at the nursing station because they do not have to stay in the building for extended periods.
“They go in and out again,” Matawapit said. “It was the working group that was affected — they have to be there from 8:30 to 4:30 every day. Those were the ones who were suffering because they had to do their jobs.”
Matawapit said the band is considering the installation of a third air conditioner to help keep the temperatures reasonable.
“They keep a close eye on the humidex (scale), so if it reaches that again then they’ll have to go home again,” Matawapit said. “It seems to be a bit cooler today — we had rain yesterday, a downpour, so it cooled off lots so today seems to be not too bad.”
The nursing station’s humidex scale has a sticker placed by Health Canada that indicates when the temperature has reached 85, the building must be evacuated.
“It’s a big building and we’ve had small air conditioners in the two examination rooms every summer, but it doesn’t do any good at all,” Beardy said.
As of 3 p.m. on July 8, the nursing station was cooler than before the air conditioners were installed.
“It’s cooler today,” Beardy said. “They (staff) say it is about 75, so that is about 10 degrees lower.”
Beardy is still waiting for more information about the third air conditioner.
“They’re thinking about putting another one in,” Beardy said. “They’re going to let us know. We’ll see how that goes.”
Beardy said the building’s design makes the problem worse because all the offices are located in the centre without any windows.
“I thought we had ventilation when I installed the air conditioners because I was going to vent it into the vents that are there, but I just found out they are not real vents,” Beardy said. “It’s just to vent air from one room to another. There is no duct work at all.”