“After 18 years in power, the Sask. Party is driving healthcare workers out of the province and closing hospitals,” said Clarke. “The Sask. Party needs to get healthcare back on track and get these hospitals open again. The least they can do in the meantime is notify the public when their local emergency room is closed.”
According to internal SHA data obtained via a freedom of information request, there were 86 service closures from February 2018 to July 2019 – the first 18 months of Premier Scott Moe’s administration.
During the most recent 18 months for which data is available (November 2023 to May 2025), the number of service closures surged to 643 – an eight-fold increase.
“Someone in need of care is going to show up to a closed emergency room and die as a result,” said Clarke. “It’s only a matter of time — unless the Sask. Party and the SHA do something.
“I’ve heard from so many constituents of Sask. Party MLAs who want the government to be more transparent and stop closing their ERs. I hope that Sask. Party MLAs seriously consider breaking with the party line and supporting The Provincial Health Authority (ER Closure right-to-know) Amendment Act.”
Clarke’s bill would require public notification of the closure within one hour’s time through a website or electronic means.
The SHA, which is filled with Sask. Party campaign operatives and donors at the senior level, has stopped regular digital reporting of service closures at rural hospitals, opting instead to post physical notices on doors that local communities are reposting online.
Without a centralized public system to track notices, the SHA has mistakenly redirected patients in need of emergency care to emergency rooms in other communities that were also closed.
-30-