REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Leader Ryan Meili and Health Critic Vicki Mowat were joined by doctors and patients from Warman and Martensville to call on the government to acknowledge the growing gaps in Saskatchewan’s health system and commit to immediate action.
“Saskatchewan doctors have been underpaid and undersupported for years,” said Meili. “The future prosperity of Saskatchewan hinges on the recruitment and retention of doctors, and under the Sask. Party they’re flowing out of the province faster than they’re coming in.”
Doctors and patients from Warman and Martensville visited the Legislature today to highlight the government's failure to recruit and retain trained healthcare professionals in their communities. With a population of nearly 25,000 and fewer than ten family doctors, they say they are overworked and that residents are going without adequate access to primary care.
In 2016, the government told Dr. Allison Adamus that the communities of Martensville and Warman were to be removed from the list of excluded practice locations. Yet only residents attending Saskatoon and Regina for their training have had these restrictions removed. Residents training elsewhere still have Warman and Martensville excluded from their Return of Service agreements.
The doctor shortage in Warman and Martensville puts even greater pressure on Saskatoon hospitals. As of this morning, 68 patients stuck in ERs in Saskatoon were admitted with no beds available. Additionally, because Warman and Martensville do not have a hospital site, the SHA is unable to provide full lab services and patients must drive 20 kilometres to Saskatoon. The trip has proven costly for those requiring regular lab work.
“Martensville and Warman are being denied adequate healthcare because the government classifies them as a ‘bedroom’ community of Saskatoon,” said Mowat. “This means they have no hospital to match their growing population. As a result, doctors are burning out and many in the community are going without the care they need.”
The Official Opposition calls on the government to immediately support the recruitment and retention of family doctors in Martensville and Warman by removing them from the list of excluded communities for all Return of Service agreements, as requested in a petition signed by nearly 1,500 residents that was tabled in the Legislature today.
-30-
Poor working conditions, favouritism, $300K travel nurse pay at issue
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition released a letter signed by 49 emergency room nurses in Saskatoon. The letter slams the Sask. Party government for failing to support Saskatchewan nurses and curb the province’s reliance on expensive out-of-province travel nurses.
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Critic for First Nations and Métis Relations Betty Nippi-Albright hosted a Day of Action with Indigenous leaders from Nekaneet First Nation, Yellow Quill First Nation, Waterhen Lake First Nation, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Carry The Kettle First Nation, Key First Nation and the residential school support team from Yorkton Tribal Council. Together, they continue to draw attention to the Sask. Party government’s disregard for the Duty to Consult process.
MOOSE JAW - Today, the Official Opposition stood with Taylor Enns, president of the Moose Jaw Firefighters Association, and Brayden Dutchak, the son of a cancer survivor. Together, they called on the Sask. Party government to reopen Saskatchewan’s only hyperbaric chamber.
Records show former Sask. Party Finance Minister lobbied for Calgary surgery scheme on behalf of a major Sask. Party donor
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition grilled the Premier and his Minister of Health after the Minister misled the public, claiming that he had not been lobbied by a former Sask. Party MLA when Saskatchewan's official lobbyist logs show the exact opposite.