Moe hopes new urgent care centres will help struggling Sask. hospitals

Saskatchewan’s premier is hoping new urgent care centres will help alleviate disruptions at larger health facilities across the province.

Over the coming days, Scott Moe said he’ll be asking Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill and the Saskatchewan Health Authority why there have been a number of emergency department and health centre disruptions since the beginning of the year, and what’s being done about the issue.

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The health authority issued a notice on February 14 indicating that the emergency department at Saskatoon’s City Hospital would only operate from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. until Feb. 23, “based on physician availability.”

The SHA directed potential patients to go to Royal University or St. Paul’s Hospital outside of those hours, even though both of those hospitals have also been regularly operating over capacity.

City Hospital’s emergency department also closed early on December 31 because of an ill physician.

In addition, the SHA announced a 10-day service disruption at the Beauval Health Centre earlier this week, which was attributed to a nursing shortage.

During a news conference on Wednesday, Moe suggested changes needed to be made in order to mitigate the disruptions, including improving staffing levels at urgent care centres.

Moe insisted that Saskatchewan was not alone in its challenges, noting that other provinces were experiencing the same issues while also suggesting that care could be delivered in different ways.

“We need to have some very frank conversations about doing things differently,” the premier said.

“Are there things that we can do differently operationally in our health-care system that are going to result in not only a more efficient delivery, but going to result in a high degree of access for Saskatchewan people?”

Moe suggested that Regina’s urgent care centre – which is still not operating 24-7 as initially promised – along with the creation of other urgent care centres in Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw, could help relieve the pressure on hospital emergency departments.

“I would say that the urgent care centre operating in Regina is providing that. We need to replicate it, and replicate it quickly, which is difficult in an environment when we’re short of professional health-care staff across the country,” Moe said.

The premier said his government was making an investment in health care workers, and he expected that the SHA to “deliver when that investment is made.”