On June 15, the Ross Payant Nursing Home on 300 Jubilee Place is celebrating their 60th anniversary. Former employees, family members of clients and the community are welcome.
The Ross Payant nursing home and its founders have played vital roles in Assiniboia’s development. In the 1950s, Thomas Ross, Assiniboia’s mortician, ambulance driver and the chief organizer of the Assiniboia Savings and Credit Union, wanted to improve the lives of the elderly in Assiniboia and area. In his words, “It was during this decade that I started what to me has been the greatest and most rewarding effort of my life.”
Payant was upset. The elderly in Saskatchewan were poorly treated. His wife’s mother failed to acquire the care she deserved during her stay at a Moose Jaw facility. His parents spent their last years in a poor house. Ross believed his town needed a nursing home to serve the elderly in town and the various municipalities surrounding Assiniboia.
In 1955, at a meeting of the Assiniboia Quarter Century Club, Ross talked about financing and building a home for senior citizens in Assiniboia. Many club members thought a nursing home in Assiniboia wasn’t a great idea, although a friend nominated Ross to head the committee to investigate how and why this nursing home should be built, if at all. Ross agreed to head the committee, deciding to choose his own members, after sensing many in the club were indifferent.
Ross didn’t know how to proceed until he met G. Arthur Payant the next day while collecting the mail. The retired farmer, builder and author of My Place in the Land – an intriguing book about the pioneer’s life as a homesteader, horse skinner and labourer throughout the US and Canada – had heard about his friend’s vision. Although Payant probably listened to many counter-arguments the night before, he wanted to assist Ross. Payant also believed Assiniboia required a nursing home, to prevent the elderly in their region from spending their last years in a city-based facility.
Pioneer Lodge, constructed three years later on the west side of town in 1958, was financed through federal government loans, provincial grants and donations. However, government loans, especially from the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation, were difficult to obtain during the initial planning stages. Ross had to make several visits to Ottawa, Winnipeg and Regina to negotiate loans to finance his dream of improving the lives of the Assiniboia and district’s elderly.
The home opened in March 1958 with Lillian Inch acting as superintendent. Arthur Wilkinson served as the caretaker, as well as the grounds and building supervisor. Pansey McKay was the nursing home’s first cook. Mrs. Perkins and Burt Bull (from Viceroy) were the home’s original guests.
Ross and Payant Nursing Home, designed to serve Southwest Saskatchewan, with boundaries extending 145 kilometres east and west and 113 kilometres to the north and south, has experienced several renovations and extensions since 1958. Today, the main building has 38 long term care beds. The home practices Open Presence, a progressive-minded philosophy of the Five Hills Health Region, who believe families play a role in care. Families are allowed to visit the clients at the home whenever they like, allowing them better access to evaluate the support the elderly are receiving.
