With a newly-upgraded runway at Moosomin Airport the local community can look forward to better healthcare access along with other benefits.
Making the announcement that the project was completed was Minister of Highways Lori Carr who called the new upgrade a great boon for the region.
"The completion of the new and longer runway, better positions the region for growth and protects their quality of life as the Moosomin airport can now land Saskatchewan air ambulance fixed-wing aircraft. So it's super important for that community for obvious health reasons, getting people to facilities quicker."
Besides the health benefits the upgrade can also have an economic one by better linking business with the area.
"The project was actually a combination of government funding and corporate funding, private funding, and from a corporation standpoint, they have the potash mines very near there. So it's important for those individuals to be able to get in and out as they're coming to see their mines. So it'll help there and, of course, the community itself will be able to use that airport for whatever needs they feel necessary."
That won't be the only upgrade coming to the airport as some other pieces are coming into place for the structure in the future.
"Moving forward they're going to finish up the lighting that needs to be completed around the airport and then eventually they plan on building a facility where people, when they land they can come and they can sit in and that's down the line."
While Carr says she hasn't heard of an upgrade to the weather monitoring equipment there she says she wouldn't be surprised to see an upgrade like that in the future.
Already Moosomin residents are seeing the upgrade to the runway take shape in the form of better services.
"Just listening to the community, especially Dr. Van, who works there, and him talking about the benefits of having this airport, he said after the runway was done two days later an air ambulance actually landed there twice and so normally they would have to wait for STARS or they would have to get that patient in an ambulance and put them on the road. So it just shows the benefits immediately."