Hasn’t this 17-year-old Sask. Social gathering authorities had sufficient time or invested sufficient cash to treatment these hospital closures of 30 years in the past?
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Maybe it’s time to confess throwing cash at each downside in Saskatchewan’s health-care system isn’t the whole answer.
Been there. Completed that. But issues aren’t going away.
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The Saskatchewan Social gathering authorities nonetheless faces a each day harangue from Opposition New Democrats for spending extra on out-of-province personal surgical procedures and out-of-province contract journey nurses.
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In some way, spitting again that the NDP authorities closed 52 rural hospitals and the Plains Well being Centre in 1993 doesn’t seem like fixing a lot.
Apart from, hasn’t this 17-year-old Sask. Social gathering authorities had sufficient time or invested sufficient cash to treatment these hospital closures of three a long time in the past? Isn’t it time to sit down down with docs, nurses, different health-care suppliers and specialists to develop a co-operative, significant technique?
Definitely, the Sask. Social gathering authorities has been fearless in the case of well being spending — particularly capital spending.
For the reason that final NDP government-delivered finances of 2006-07, now we have gone from $3.2 billion in annual spending on well being to $7.6 billion the Sask. Social gathering authorities is predicted to dole out in 2024-25.
Plenty of that spending since 2007 has been for capital initiatives, together with: $407 million for the Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford; $258 million for the Jim Pattison Youngsters’s Hospital; $153 million for the Parkland Built-in Well being Centre in Premier Scott Moe’s Shellbrook constituency; $108 million for the Meadows long-term care facility in Swift Present, $79.6 million for the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital in Moose Jaw and $56 million for the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory in Saskatoon.
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That is separate from the $464 million for 15 long-term care amenities in Biggar, Kelvington, Kerrobert, Kipling, Maple Creek, Meadow Lake, Prince Albert, Radville, Redvers, Rosetown, Shellbrook, Tisdale, Watrous, Swift Present and Saskatoon.
Nor does it embrace renovation initiatives just like the $153-million Herb Bassett House long-term facility in Prince Albert, $28 million for the RAWLCO Centre for Mom Child Care in Regina, and $25 million for 89 further beds for Oliver Lodge in Saskatoon.
Additionally, there are 15 different health-related initiatives began or within the works, together with a massively costly enlargement and renovation of the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert, the substitute of regional hospitals in Weyburn and Yorkton and pressing care centres in Regina and Saskatoon.
Admittedly, it’s fairly laborious to refute that ageing amenities want changing or that docs want a spot to physician and nurses want a spot to nurse. But when constructing extra well being care monuments had been the one reply wanted, would we nonetheless be encountering repeated issues?
For instance, NDP rural and distant well being critic Jared Clarke famous Monday there have been 950 short-term hospital service closures/disruptions of emergency care, X-ray or lab tech providers between August 2019 and July 2023 within the province.
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Well being Minister Everett Hindley acknowledged there have been staffing points because the starting of the COVID-19 pandemic — which is why the federal government is investing $140 million in health-care retention and recruitment.
Generally, spending extra is the one answer — which is why the federal government says it must fork over stacks of money for journey nurses or wait-list discount methods.
However Clarke famous the federal government spent $59 million final yr on journey nurses and is budgeting $70 million in 2024-25, in keeping with the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN).
In truth, a group of 49 emergency room nurses at Saskatoon’s St. Paul’s Hospital just lately wrote Hindley, noting the common journey nurse wage is $289,256 a yr — virtually thrice the wage of everlasting nurses who at the moment are having hassle reserving shifts and getting extra additional time.
Equally, the answer to addressing a medium-time, 318-day await surgical procedure in Saskatchewan (the nationwide common is 161 days) has been to contract the personal Surgical Centres Inc. for $6 million.
Of late, this situation is slowed down within the political battle over its mum or dad group, Clearpoint Well being Community of Calgary, contributing $14,000 to the Sask. Social gathering and hiring former finance minister Kevin Doherty as a lobbyist — fuelling questions of whether or not that is one other case of throwing good cash after dangerous.
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Isn’t it excessive time to put aside politics and punctiliously study higher alternate options to health-care supply?
Or will we merely holding throwing extra money on the similar points and preserve getting the identical outcomes?
Murray Mandryk is the political columnist for Regina Chief-Submit and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
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