REGINA - According to new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the provincial government, Saskatchewan has the worst wait times in Canada for numerous priority procedures.
“Almost everyone in Saskatchewan knows someone waiting in pain for a surgery that should have been delivered months ago,” said Official Opposition Leader Carla Beck. “We have the worst hospital waits in Canada by a country mile. No government should pat itself on the back for a job half done.”
The Canadian Institute for Health Information’s (CIHI) latest report shows that the median wait time for knee replacements in Saskatchewan last year was 466 days. The national average was 198 days, and the next-worst province, Manitoba, was 336.
Saskatchewan also has the worst hospital waits in Canada for hip replacements. The median wait time was 309 days, longer than every other province and nearly double the national average of 164 days.
According to CIHI, this trend of worst-in-the-nation hospital waits started in 2019, before the pandemic, the year after Premier Scott Moe came to power.
“When it comes to fixing hospital waits, Scott Moe and his Ministers have no targets, no timelines and no new ideas,” said Rural and Remote Health Critic Matt Love. “The longer the Sask. Party is in government, the longer people will wait for medical care.”
SHA data for the first three months of 2023 shows that hospital waits for knee replacements have gotten worse, hospital waits for hip replacements have barely budged, and some Regina and Saskatoon patients have been stuck waiting nearly three years for priority procedures.
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