For months, the government claimed the new building would boost capacity and bring in out-of-province recruits. Behind closed doors, the Sask. Party has been moving staff from the Pasqua Hospital’s Breast Assessment Centre, raising fears that it may soon close.
“This government isn’t going to change anything if they just move people from one building to another. We need to focus on the future and hire more healthcare workers,” said Brittney Senger, NDP Shadow Minister for the Status of Women. “It’s all about flashy headlines for the Sask. Party old boys club. They don’t give a damn about women's health.”
In one leaked email, Pasqua Hospital employees ask for confirmation and clarification of their transfer to the new building, noting that “other technologists” at the Pasqua’s Breast Assessment Centre have already been reassigned.
Another message warns that “the current Breast Assessment Centre that is located inside the Pasqua Hospital is not going to exist in the coming month. We are moving into a new building and it will be called the Breast Health Centre.”
“Women who need urgent breast cancer care will still have to fly to Calgary because the Sask. Party isn’t hiring the staff we need,” said Vicki Mowat, Saskatchewan NDP Health Critic. “They said one thing to get elected and then did the opposite.”
Healthcare workers are leaving Saskatchewan because they haven’t received a pay raise in three years and are working short-staffed, and the Sask. Party still decided to cut healthcare in their new budget.
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