Moe defends government with ICU patients on brink of being sent out of province

Premier Scott Moe says pride is not preventing him from picking up the phone and calling Ottawa to request federal aid to help with the crush of COVID-19 patients in Saskatchewan.

On Thursday, Moe defended his government’s response to the fourth wave of the pandemic that has pushed the province’s hospital and intensive care capacity to the brink.

Saskatchewan had 116 people in intensive care on Tuesday — two below the threshold that would trigger sending patients out of province. Of those ICU cases, 80 were COVID patients.

Moe told Gormley the province is prepared to use that option, if necessary, but only as a last resort.

“What I have asked (the Saskatchewan Health Authority and Ministry of Health) is ensure that we are utilizing every provincial resource and every available opportunity we have to care for people in the province before we start transferring outside the province,” Moe said.

“I think in fairness, that’s what Saskatchewan people would ultimately expect. I’ve already had these conversations with the prime minister and I’ll have them again should an official request come.”

Moe noted Marlo Pritchard, the president of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, and Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone can trigger a request for federal aid and Moe would be on the phone immediately should they deem it necessary.

Moe said the province’s request would be for extra bodies to work in the plugged intensive care units.

“We’re very close to that,” he said. “I would say keep in perspective what the federal government does have the ability to provide. It’s likely equivalent to a number of ICU beds, but not a significant number.”

Earlier in the month, the province asked the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre to take over day-to-day co-ordination and response of the pandemic.

The Moe government was criticized by the NDP for shifting responsibility for the pandemic from one bureaucracy to another without any direct support for nurses and doctors.

Moe also defended that decision, saying it was about combining resources.

“(The key was) to really provide that whole of government response,” he said. “We have a large public service, a very talented public service in Saskatchewan, and we need that whole government response as we find our way through what is proving to be the most challenging wave.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, this government is faced with a choice, like all governments are. We’ve chosen to implement public health measures only to preserve the hospital capacity that we have in the province. We have chosen not to lock down.”