As well, SUN has revealed that some moms and their babies have been sent to North Dakota because they couldn’t receive the care they needed in Saskatchewan.
Later today, the Saskatchewan NDP intends to introduce a motion calling for an emergency debate on the healthcare crisis impacting critically ill babies.
“You’re living in a total nightmare, your baby is fighting for its life and you’re told that you have to go to the United States because there is no one to care for your child here — I can’t imagine the heartbreak and devastation,” said Meara Conway, NDP Shadow Minister for Rural & Remote Health, who is due to give birth to her third child at the General in the coming weeks.
Conway added, “Yesterday, the Minister of Health did his best to downplay the concerns from frontline workers in the mother-baby unit despite new proof that they’ve been raising these concerns for months.
“The Minister is gaslighting the very frontline workers trying to save these babies’ lives — that’s disgusting. Today, I am calling on every member of the Legislature to put the health and wellbeing of these babies first, and if they won’t, I have to ask them why they ran for elected office in the first place?”
Conway’s motion would call upon the government to take action and address the crisis so moms and babies will no longer need to be transferred to North Dakota for basic healthcare, and it would also call upon the Minister of Health to provide daily public updates on the status of the crisis until it’s over.
SUN says its complaints date back months. One the organization published on Monday that was originally received April 10 reads, “Overcapacity, we have no more ventilators, pending more microprem admissions that will need a ventilator.
“Nothing being done to send those moms out, a completely unsafe work environment for staff and patients. Unit was closed, still received two admissions.
“Acuity very high, milk mixing error due to no time to make milk and no resources to help — errors were made when making milk in haste to help with other things on the unit.
“No supports for staff who are being pushed to the limit of burnout and exhaustion having to deal with unsafe workplace standards, sick babies, too many calls and tasks creating not a safe environment for babies or parents.”
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