WATROUS EMERGENCY ROOM CLOSED NEARLY 100 TIMES IN 2025

People Needing Healthcare Will Literally Pay The Price For Scott Moe’s Healthcare Failures: NDP

SASKATOON — The Watrous Hospital Emergency Room was forced to close over 100 times in 2025, primarily due to an ongoing shortage of physicians and other critical healthcare staff.

These closures included instances of the hospital closing multiple times in a single day, including one instance where the community was told that the hospital would be open for 26 minutes between midnight and 7:30pm on Feb. 6.
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“The Sask. Party has spent 18 years driving doctors and healthcare workers out of this province, and now rural families are paying the price,” said Keith Jorgenson, Saskatchewan NDP Associate Shadow Minister for Health.

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“Healthcare in Saskatchewan is worse than ever. People in Watrous and right across the province deserve healthcare close to home. The future of our rural communities depends on it.”

Rural hospital closures have been steadily on the rise since Scott Moe became Premier.

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According to internal SHA data obtained via a freedom of information request, there were 86 closures from February 2018 to July 2019 – the first 18 months of Scott Moe’s administration. During the most recent 18 months for which data is available (November 2023 to May 2025), the number of closures surged to 643 — a nearly eight-fold increase.

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“We used to have the best healthcare in Canada, but now we’re ranked in last place,” said Jorgenson. “Scott Moe and the Sask. Party have taken rural Saskatchewan for granted and it’s time for a change.

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“We need big, bold change to get our health system and our province moving forward again. We can’t have a strong economy or growing communities if the hospitals aren’t open.”

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The Saskatchewan NDP Is actively building a plan to fix healthcare. People are welcome to have their say at YourCareYourSay.ca.

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