For immediate release: October 24, 2024
HOSPITAL SERVICE BLACKOUTS DENY MOE’S OWN CONSTITUENTS HEALTHCARE IN WEEKS LEADING TO ELECTION DAY
SHELLBROOK – Scott Moe’s own constituents have been denied critical medical services, including a working emergency room, on several occasions in the weeks leading up to and during the provincial election campaign.
Service disruption notices, which are not consistently reported online, indicate the Shellbrook & District Hospital was forced to close its emergency room because of staff shortages for four hours on Sept. 20, 100 minutes on Sept. 23 and nearly 12 hours on Oct. 7.
The hospital was also not able to provide critical lab and diagnostic imaging services on Sept. 22-23, Oct. 9-10 and Oct. 15-16 and there were recurring disruptions for four days from Sept. 23-27.
“Scott Moe broke our healthcare system and he can’t be trusted to fix it — he can’t even keep healthcare working in his own backyard,” said Mark Thunderchild, Saskatchewan NDP candidate in Rosthern-Shellbrook.
“Healthcare in Saskatchewan is in last place because Scott Moe and the Sask. Party put us there. Now, Moe has the audacity to actually propose cuts to healthcare. The constituents of Rosthern-Shellbrook deserve better, all Saskatchewan people do.”
Frequent emergency room closures and service blackouts have plagued healthcare across Saskatchewan for years. The pressure on open emergency rooms has increased as well. When the Shellbrook emergency room is closed, people experiencing a medical emergency are directed into Saskatoon, where emergency rooms in that city have been two or three times capacity on many occasions in recent weeks.
Carla Beck and a Saskatchewan NDP Government will invest $1.1 billion more in healthcare to hire, train, recruit and retain frontline staff, to ease pressure on emergency rooms, expand surgical capacity and much more.
“We don’t have to settle for the current state of our healthcare,” Thunderchild said. “It’s time to send Moe and the Sask. Party packing. It’s time to get healthcare out of last place. It’s time for change.”
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Copies of the service disruption notices at the Shellbrook & District Hospital are attached to this release.
- September 20, 2024 Notice
- September 22 - 23, 2024 Notice
- September 23, 2024 Notice
- September 23 - 27, 2024 Notice
- October 7, 2024 Notice
- October 15, 2024 Notice
For more information, please contact [email protected].