SASK. PARTY BUDGET CUTTING HEALTHCARE FUNDING

PATIENTS AND HEALTHCARE WORKERS PAYING THE PRICE OF MISMANAGEMENT

MOOSE JAW - Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Finance Minister Trent Wotherspoon, slammed the Sask. Party for cutting healthcare in this week’s provincial budget and said it people in cities like Moose Jaw that pay the price.

Last year, the Saskatchewan government spent $8.022 billion on health and is now only planning to spend $8.004 billion this coming year, a cut of $17.1 million (page 27).

“These claims being made by the Sask. Party of increasing healthcare spending are a total fantasy,” Wotherspoon said. “It's like saying five minus four is six. A second grader could see through this budget — it’s not worth the paper that it’s printed on.”

Saskatchewan ranks last place in Canada for:

Surgical wait times – Knee replacements (318 days) and hip replacements (232 days)
Hospital wait times – Emergency patients at Saskatoon City Hospital wait 55–68 hours for a bed
Healthcare workforce – Specialist-to-patient ratio (103 per 100,000) and physician-to-patient ratio (second worst, at 221 per 100,000)

Wotherspoon said in Moose Jaw, specifically, the Dr. F. H. Wigmore Regional Hospital has seen constant blackout periods for critical medical services.

“So many people here have been forced to head into Regina for anything close to resembling healthcare,” Wotherspoon said.

“This budget is not focused on the future. After 17 years of Sask. Party waste, mismanagement, scandals, healthcare in Saskatchewan ranks dead last in the country.

“People here in Moose Jaw and right across Saskatchewan deserve healthcare that’s there for them, when and where they need it.”

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