SASK. PARTY’S TRAVEL NURSE MESS COST NEARLY $100 MILLION IN ONE YEAR: AUDITOR

Carla Beck Calls For Plan To Recruit, Retain & Respect Frontline Workers Holding Up Crumbling Healthcare System
REGINA – Carla Beck's team is calling out Scott Moe for mismanaging Saskatchewan health so badly that his failing government was forced to spend nearly $100 million in one year on travel nurses as the province's healthcare staffing crisis spiraled out of control.

The Provincial Auditor, in a report released yesterday, found spending on travel nurses exploded from just $2.1 million in 2019-20 to a peak of $98.8 million in 2023-24.

"After nearly 20 years in power, Scott Moe and the Sask. Party have created a healthcare system so broken that taxpayers were forced to spend almost $100 million a year just to keep the lights on," Beck said. "This wasn't caused by nurses or patients — it was caused by years of Sask. Party failures, poor workforce planning and a government that failed to recruit, retain or even listen to those overrun on the frontlines of our hospitals and clinics.”

The Auditor's report found the Saskatchewan Health Authority failed to meet its own travel nurse reduction targets and could not explain why it missed those targets or how it intended to improve. The report also found the SHA did not analyze how reducing travel nurse usage would affect its existing workforce.

At the same time, while travel nurse spending declined somewhat from its peak, the SHA spent an additional $105 million on overall compensation, including overtime costs for permanent staff.

"The Sask. Party wants to pretend they've solved this problem, but the Auditor found they haven't," said Meara Conway, Shadow Health Minister.

"They reduced some travel nurse spending by forcing more overtime onto exhausted frontline workers. That's not a solution.

“It's more expensive, it contributes to burnout and it makes it even harder to recruit and retain the healthcare professionals Saskatchewan desperately needs."

The report also raised serious concerns about oversight and patient safety.

The Auditor found the SHA does not properly track whether travel nurses have completed required safety training and noted that one travel nurse who had been flagged for serious concerns, including misrepresenting work history and training credentials, was later hired again. The SHA could not explain why.

"That finding alone should alarm every Saskatchewan person," Conway said.

The report also found the SHA maintains a list of travel nurses with known performance concerns, but documentation supporting those concerns is not always consistently maintained.

Beck said the findings are further evidence that Saskatchewan needs major change in healthcare leadership and culture.

"Scott Moe, Jeremy Cockrill and the Sask. Party broke our healthcare system and they can’t be trusted to fix it," Beck said.

"Healthcare workers have gone years without a contract while executives at the top continue to receive raises and rewards. That's why we've called for a freeze on executive compensation at the Saskatchewan Health Authority until frontline healthcare workers receive a fair deal.

“It's time for a government with a real plan to recruit, retain and support the healthcare workers who keep our system running.

“It’s time for change.”

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