Weyburn is one step closer to a new hospital. 

The Sun Country Health Region board of director's final draft proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Health for approval. While this preliminary plan doesn't include blueprints or a location for the new acute care hospital, CEO Marga Cugnet said they're asking for 40 acute care beds plus 10 mental health beds, which would move over from Tatagwa View.

Cugnet shared after the board's first meeting of 2016 that the plan includes space for baby deliveries, but that necessitates more than just space.

"The plan is in there for maintaining obstetrics," said Cugnet. "Of course it's, again, about getting physicians that are interested in doing deliveries and we'd have to train up our staff and also having that surgical back-up so that we have cesarean capability."

"So right now, even in Estevan, we've finally got to the point that we can have cesarean section back up every day. So, it takes years to build that up," explained Cugnet. "So, when we're recruiting physicians our first question is 'are you interested in doing deliveries?' You have to build up that whole team."

Cugnet said they plan to have a public consultation on a possible location for the new hospital, but have yet to determine a date for that consultation.