“This is unacceptable,” said Meara Conway, Shadow Minister of Rural and Remote Health. “If you’re facing a life-or-death emergency, you shouldn’t have to worry about whether your local emergency room will be open.
“Healthcare should be there when and where you need it—not in another town or two down the highway.”
Since August 2019, Wadena Hospital has experienced at least 37 service closures, amounting to over 100 days without essential care. Emergency services alone have been closed for a combined total of two months, while essential radiography, laboratory, and diagnostic services have also been closed.
Wadena is just one of 58 hospitals and health centers across Saskatchewan affected by service closures under Premier Scott Moe's leadership.
After 17 years of the Sask Party, Saskatchewan ranks last place in Canada for healthcare worker retention, with rural communities hit particularly hard.
According to the Canadian Institute of Health Information, there were 2,234 rural/remote registered nurses in 2018 when Scott Moe took office and the most recent available data shows that there are now only 1,760. This represents the largest dip in the nursing workforce in all the provinces studied at -21% since 2018.
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