BIOSTAR Inc., a federally incorporated company was launched to market animal health technologies and products developed at VIDO to national and international biological production companies

In the early 1900s, Saskatchewan women sought to establish the YWCA, a well-known urban-based evangelical Protestant organization that aimed to uplift and protect young women, especially those moving into the rapidly growing cities. Over the decades, the YWCAs have changed considerably, adapting to shifts in societal needs and in notions of womanhood. The first provincial YWCA was founded in Moose Jaw (1907). The Regina and Saskatoon YWCAs were first established in 1910; that in Prince Albert in 1912. In Regina the Local Council of Women played an instrumental role. In Saskatoon, Christ Church Women's Auxiliary and the Golden West chapter of the IODE were involved, but of central importance was an individual woman of independent means: Millicent Silcox. A Church of England deaconess, she had already begun Travellers' Aid work, meeting trains and providing lodging to young women; she continued this work under YWCA auspices. All four YWCAs did extensive Travellers' Aid Work, but their prime objective was to provide respectable, affordable quarters for young women who were coming into the cities to work or study. Programs and services proliferated under the guidance of paid staff and volunteer workers, the most extensive being in Regina and Saskatoon. The Saskatoon YWCA, for example, developed educational programs including classes in domestic science, dress-making, Bible study, first aid, current events, and English-language training. Employment assistance was often provided. Clubs proliferated, as did social events like teas; in time, dancing was allowed. Physical activities were always encouraged, and extensive sports programs also developed; camping became popular.

The YWCAs continued their work through the social disruption of the two world wars, the economic devastation of the 1930s, and the challenges of the postwar decades. Programs and services constantly adapted to the changing needs of young women and the community. The YWCA, for example, responded to the need for support services to new Canadians, and in the late 1970s extended a helping hand to Vietnam refugees. As well, YWCAs have addressed social issues such as the needs of women with disabilities, and violence against women. In the early 1980s Regina and Saskatoon YWCAs began to offer annual Women of Distinction Awards, and Prince Albert began to do so in 1990. As of early 2005, Regina, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert still had YWCAs. In 2004 the combined YMCA/YWCA in Moose Jaw (which dated from 1954) became a YMCA Family Y.

Clara Bayliss, Lisa Dale-Burnett

The YWCA history dates back to 1855, when the philanthropist Lady Mary Jane Kinnaird founded the North London Home for nurses travelling to or from the Crimean War. The home addressed the needs of single women arriving from rural areas to join the industrial workforce in London, by offering housing, education and support with a "warm Christian atmosphere". Kinnaird's organisation merged with the Prayer Union started by evangelist Emma Robarts in 1877.

In 1884, the YWCA was restructured. Until then, London had had almost a separate organisation, but there was now one YWCA organisation. Beneath this there were separate staffs and Presidents for London, England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, "Foreign" and Colonial and Missionary. This organisation distributed Christian texts and literature, but it also interviewed young women in an effort to improve living conditions. In 1884, they were working amongst Scottish fisherwomen, publishing their own magazine and operating a ladies' restaurant in London.

The World YWCA was founded in 1894, with USA, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden as its founding mothers.

The "Great White Plague" was the name used to describe tuberculosis. To fight the highly contagious disease the Saskatchewan Anti-Tuberculosis League was formed in 1911. Under its auspices Fort Qu'Appelle Sanatorium, was opened in 1917 to provide rest and fresh air. But the cure was long and tedious; few could afford to remain until they were healed. So in 1929, through the League's urging, Saskatchewan was the first province to make the care and treatment of tuberculosis free of charge. In 1987, with the closure of the sanatoriums, the League is reorganized into the Saskatchewan Lung Association.

Dr. Ferguson graduated from the Manitoba Medical School in 1916, while in medical school he interned under Dr. Steward a the Ninette Sanatorium. Dr. Ferguson was appointed Medical Superintendent of the Fort San Sanatorium in 1917 and retired from the League in 1948. During this time he resided at Fort San with his wife Helen and their 7 children.

Helen Ross was born in 1892 in Burford, Ontario. She studied art at Moulton College in Toronto before her family moved to Wynyard, Saskatchewan in 1911. She was engaged to Dr. Robert George Ferguson from 1912 until their wedding on July 5, 1916. During their engagement she trained to be a nurse at the Winnipeg General Hospital but contracted scarlet fever, diphtheria, and pneumonia towards the end of her third year and had to discontinue her training (1912-1915). After their wedding, the pair resided at the Fort San Sanatorium. After his retirement, they moved to Balfour Apartments in Regina while still summering at a cottage on Echo Lake near Fort San. Helen is remembered as an artist and for her ability to remember names, accompanying her husband as he visiting patients in the sanatorium. Helen lived past her 89th year.

George Barnett was born in Saskatoon in 1915. He entered medical school at the University of Manitoba in 1938. He spent a year out of university while being treated for pleurisy at the Fort San Sanatorium, but recovered and graduated in 1944. After graduation he served in the armed forces. In 1946, Dr. Ferguson obtained Dr. Barnett's early release from the armed forces (RCAMC) and he joined SATL as a medical doctor. In 1957 Dr. Barnett was appointed as Dr. Orr's assistant, and succeeded him as General Superintendent on December 15th, 1957. He retired in 1982. He received a Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, presented by the Governor General.

In 1930 Dr. A.B Simes was appointed to the Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Health Unit by the Department of Indian Affairs. By the time the Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital opened in 1936, Dr. Simes was Medical Superintendent of the health unit. In 1944, Dr. Simes publishes the “Simes” Report, criticizing the care provided by Elkhorn Residential School and highlighting neglect there. He recommends better medical care and living conditions in the school. In 1948, he is promoted to Medical Supervisor of Indian Health Services for the province of Saskatchewan. Dr. Simes can be seen on the far right in the image of the sod breaking displayed above.

Dr. Robert W. Kirkby was a veteran of World War 1, who later worked as a Medical Doctor at the Fort San Sanatorium from August 1, 1919 and Medical Superintendent of the Prince Albert Sanatorium from its opening in 1930 to closing in 1961.

Dr. Kirkby married Marie Berg, a nurse from Fort San in 1920.

Medical Superintendent, Ninette Sanatorium, 1909-1937
President, Manitoba Historical Society, 1929-1934
President, Manitoba Medical Association, 1925-1926

In 1915, Dr. Stewart married Ida Kate Bradshaw, a nurse. They remained married until her death in 1936.

The Ninette (or Manitoba) Sanatorium was built in the town of Ninette, on the shores of Pelican Lake, in 1909. Consisting of many buildings built specifically to serve as a sanatorium, the lake view, treed landscape, and stone buildings all contributed to a picturesque setting. This setting was purposeful, as TB treatment up until the Second World War consisted primarily of rest, good food, and fresh air. A large veranda was built on the front of the sanatorium to accommodate the patients in their beds while they took in fresh air. Surgical procedures were incorporated into treatment plans in the following decades. It is not clear when Indigenous patients began being treated at Ninette. The hospital admitted primarily non-Indigenous patients until hospitalization rates among those groups began to decline after the Second World War, leaving open beds that needed to be filled. The Ninette Sanatorium remained in operation until 1972, when TB treatment was wholly transferred to the Central TB Clinic in Winnipeg.