Trusted Care Close to Home
Our History
In 1940, the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Peterborough, Ontario together with the community opened St. Anthony’s Hospital in Esterhazy. The town people were grateful to Mr. and Mrs. James Martinovsky and Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Schafer for the donation of land for the hospital site.
In 1964 a new facility was constructed to replace the old hospital, and was officially open in June 1966. This new facility had 36 acute beds, serviced by 7 Sisters, 35 staff members and 4 doctors.
In 1989 the Grey Sisters of Pembroke turned over the ownership of St. Anthony’s hospital to the Grey Nuns of Manitoba. Ten years later in the year 2000 the Grey Nuns transferred St. Anthony’s to Emmanuel Care. In 2000, Community Services which includes Public Health and Physiotherapy moved into an occupied section of the hospital. Home Care took over another area in 2001. Since September 2005, Ambulance Services are housed and operated out of St. Anthony’s hospital. In 2006 a new medical clinic was built next to the hospital. With the exception of the Centennial Special Care Home, all Esterhazy Healthcare services are located at St. Anthony’s Hospital.
We Are An Emmanuel Health Facility
Healthcare on the prairies was initiated by religious orders who sought to minister to the sick and dying, the poorest of the poor, wherever there was a need. Our province has benefited greatly from the mission of these early pioneers who built hospitals and care homes from Ile-a-la-Crosse to Estevan.
Over the years, as the religious orders experienced a decrease in numbers and aging of their members, they became unable to continue to govern and operate the health care facilities on their own.
In order to retain Catholic ownership of health care facilities and to continue the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, the religious orders appealed to the Bishops for their support. The Bishops of the province of Saskatchewan requested that a corporation be established to sponsor the apostolic activities of a number of hospitals and other institutions on behalf of the Catholic Church. In 1989, “the Catholic Health Council of Saskatchewan” was incorporated under the Non-Profit Corporations Act of the Province of Saskatchewan for this purpose, with the Bishops as the sole members of the corporation. In 1998, the name was changed in legislation to “Saskatchewan Catholic Health Corporation”.
In 2016, the business name changed to Emmanuel Care although “Saskatchewan Catholic Health Corporation” (SCHC) continues to be the legal name under the Saskatchewan Non-Profit Corporations Act. As a corporation, Emmanuel Care (SCHC) owns fifteen health care facilities/corporations in the province. Twelve are publicly funded non-profit facilities which provide various combinations of acute, special care home, rehabilitative, and housing services. Until 2017, the facilities were located within seven different health regions in the province of Saskatchewan and each acute/long term care facility was governed by its own local Board of Directors, appointed by and accountable to Emmanuel Care.
Emmanuel Care formed Emmanuel Health on April 1, 2018, as the single governing entity for the twelve non-profit facilities/corporations, in order to align with the new Saskatchewan Health Authority. Local presence remains critical to the mission of Catholic Health Care, and Local Councils remain as committees of the Emmanuel Health Board.
Today, Emmanuel Health continues to operate publicly funded Catholic healthcare facilities in the communities of Macklin, Saskatoon (3), Ponteix, Gravelbourg, Moose Jaw, Regina, Radville, Estevan, Esterhazy, and Melville.