The Saskatchewan NDP is sharing information about the state of healthcare in the province as obtained via a freedom of information request.
“We’re in the midst of a healthcare crisis. We have seen service closures to maternity wards, ER rooms, diagnostics, CT scans – as you know all too well here in Lloydminster,” says Meara Conway, Shadow Minister for Rural and Remote Health.
Conway was speaking outside the Lloydminster Hospital, on Friday, May 2, as the NDP team tours the province to share details on what they have learned about temporary closures of services.
“The Lloydminster Hospital has seen 239 days of health disruptions during the period (Aug. 2019-May 2014). Almost all of them were to diagnostic services.”
The data shows “nine of 32 disruptions lasted longer than a week. So, those are fairly lengthy disruptions, which makes Lloydminster an outlier. And the longest one was 84 days to basic radiography and lab services between Dec. 2021 and Feb. 2022,” says Conway.
Lloydminster patients have been re-routed to places like North Battleford but Conway points to the data for North Battleford.
“They’ve seen a total of 196 days of closures to surgical services and also to diagnostics.”
Conway notes the pressure on the local health system as a result of a service not being available.
“We’ve heard stories of mothers giving birth on the side of the road. We have heard stories of people showing up to their local emergency rooms, only to learn that the services aren’t available. People being asked to drive to the next community and not making it on time.”
Against the backdrop of the ongoing health needs assessment, Conway discusses some of the next steps, including political.
“Part of the frustration for many rural communities – and I think Lloydminster being more of a centre, but also quite rural in many ways, people feel taken for granted by this government. You need look no further than what’s happening to healthcare in Lloydminster to see that. We have seen needs assessments done – which clearly speaks to the need for new hospital. It clearly speaks to the need for a significant expansion to long-term care beds. And we have seen absolutely no action from this government,” says Conway.
A 12-point priority list has been delivered to the consultant leading the ongoing health assessment survey for Lloydminster.
That list calls for things like mental health stabilization beds, permanent MRI, pediatric ward, more operating rooms (Lloydminster Hospital has 2.5 operating theatres), a full Intensive Care Unit, among other things.
On the matter of a new hospital for Lloydminster, Conway speaks to the issue that healthcare needs to be there for you if you are facing an emergency, and she thinks a new hospital is “something that the Sask NDP should champion.”
“I think the Sask Party has made the gamble that this is a safe seat, people are going to vote for us. Why would we build a hospital there? And I think that’s sad, because I think that the Sask Party should be serving all people of Saskatchewan, and not making these decisions purely on a political calculation.”
Conway weighed in on the ongoing need for more long-term care spaces on the Saskatchewan side and the proposal to replacement for the Jubilee Seniors Home.
“The evidence is very clear. Investing in long-term care beds, investing in greater homecare, so people can age in place. It’s a way better return on investment than them being caught up in a hospital setting.”
Conway’s tour of the province has turned up 32 ideas from healthcare workers on ways to improve healthcare delivery. Those ideas have been delivered to the health minister.
“Nurses have been calling for a task force for years. They still have not gotten one. The lack of mentorship – physicians and nurses being thrown into the deep end without a lot of support. Return of service agreements. We train people at great expense to Saskatchewan – obstetrics, and then they go to B.C. We don’t even have a two-year return of service agreement.”
Conway says there is deep frustration among healthcare staff who are worried that the issues they face will get worse. The rural health critic cites the $17 million reduction to the Saskatchewan healthcare budget when compared to the previous year.
MyLloydminsterNow will share details of the letter to the health minster in a follow up story.
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