Saskatchewan hospitals report 1,305 service disruptions since 2019, data shows
Rural Saskatchewan hospitals have continued to experience service disruptions daily over the past five years.
Data from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), obtained by the provincial NDP through a freedom of information request, shows that between August 2019 and May 2024, there were more than 200,000 hours of healthcare blackouts at 58 hospitals and health centres, not including Saskatoon and Regina.
"We believe that this is a management issue on the government's part for how they are allocating and treating workers," NDP critic for rural and remote health Jared Clarke said. "There's enough money in the healthcare budget to prioritize providing the supports and services that Saskatchewan people need when they need it in their communities. It's time to get Saskatchewan out of last place."
This equates to a total of 8,613 days of lost service for patients with 1,305 distinct closures in total.
During the nearly five-year stretch, emergency rooms were hit the hardest – recording 617 distinct closures amounting to 4,299 lost days.
Basic radiology and laboratory services had 127 closures totaling 844 lost days, the data showed.
The disruptions worsened dramatically in 2022, rising from 163 in 2021 to 399. That number increased to 455 in 2023. Between January and May of this year, there have been 122 closures.
Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) CEO Andrew Will said reasons for disruptions vary from a "gap in physician coverage," to sick calls to a lack of staffing or resources in certain areas.
Will said the SHA is taking an innovative approach to address the challenges, which includes virtual physician coverage and point-of-care testing -- which allows staff to conduct certain tests when lab services are unavailable -- as a way of keeping more hospitals and healthcare centres open.
"Certainly our goal as the Saskatchewan Health Authority is to provide service as close to home as we possibly can, and we never want to see an interruption in any of our facilities, in hospitals throughout the province," Will said.
According to the data, Herbert has seen 971 days worth of service blackouts, more than any other community.
The Northwest Health Facility in Meadow Lake has reported 195 service blackouts at its site -- roughly one every nine days during the time period.
The Dr. F.H Wigmore Regional Hospital in Moose Jaw, the province's fourth largest city, has seen a total of 231 days where radiography and laboratory services were not available.
"I think it starts by changing the culture in healthcare. One from fear and division under this Sask. Party government and really working with healthcare professionals as partners to improve the system so that Saskatchewan people have access to the care they need when they need it," Clarke said
Earlier this year the province stopped updating its service disruption webpage. Clarke said that data should be publicly and readily available so people aren't going to larger centres unnecessarily.
"Community members don't know when their hospital is all of a sudden going to be closed," he said. "And so you literally pull up to your hospital, your health care center, and look on the on the door to find a piece of paper that says, 'nope, not today.'"
Will declined to comment on why service disruptions aren't posted regularly on the website and when that practice stopped. The latest available update on the service disruption webpage was posted in February.
At a separate announcement Friday, the province touted its health human resource action plan, which Rural and Remote Health Minister Tim McLeod said has seen more than 1,700 people hired since it was launched two years ago.
"Since we had the honor to form government 2007, Saskatchewan has more than a thousand additional physicians in our province, that's a 62 per cent growth in physicians in our province over a period of time where our population grew by 23 per cent," McLeod said.
The province acknowledged there is difficulty retaining and attracting staff, but this issue isn't exclusive to Saskatchewan.
"We're ensuring and focusing on any disruptions that we may be experiencing in Saskatchewan, like many other provinces across Canada, as this is not only in Saskatchewan where we are having these challenges, are temporary in nature.," Premier Scott Moe said Friday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Say it to my face': Singh confronts heckling protester on Parliament Hill
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confronted a protester for calling him a 'corrupted bastard' on Parliament Hill on Tuesday.
Bride's family speaks as West Vancouver woman sentenced for driving SUV into wedding party
Sixty-five-year-old Hong Xu, who drove her SUV into a crowd of people celebrating a wedding at her next-door neighbour's house in West Vancouver on Aug. 20, 2022, has been sentenced under the Motor Vehicle Act for driving without due care and attention.
Why it's 'very hard' to find work in Canada
Vacancies have steadily fallen since the glut of nearly one million open posts in 2022. At the time, one in three businesses had trouble hiring staff due to a labour shortage. Since then, vacancies have dropped.
Hezbollah hit by a wave of exploding pagers and blames Israel. At least 9 dead, thousands injured
Pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded near simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs jailed by judge after sex trafficking indictment
Sean 'Diddy' Combs headed to jail Tuesday to await trial in a federal sex trafficking case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes protected by blackmail and shocking acts of violence.
Canucks' Dakota Joshua reveals he is recovering from cancer
Vancouver Canucks forward Dakota Joshua revealed Tuesday he underwent cancer treatment over the summer, and will not be ready to play when the team's training camp begins later this week.
Two people charged in murder of Halifax teen; police believe remains have been found
Halifax Regional Police believe Devon Sinclair Marsman, who disappeared in 2022, was the victim of a homicide and two people have now been charged in his death.
What is racketeering? The crime, explained
Sex trafficking, cheating scandals and mob activity may appear very different. But all fall under the broad umbrella of racketeering.
Man from Phoenix, Ariz., missing after truck plunges off Yukon bridge
Whitehorse RCMP say a man from Phoenix, Ariz., is missing after the truck he was travelling in went off a bridge and plunged into the Yukon River.