Sask. Party’s Failed Record: 8,613 Days When Healthcare Wasn’t There For People In Need
For immediate release: September 13, 2024
Sask. Party’s Failed Record: 8,613 Days When Healthcare Wasn’t There For People In Need
Carla Beck And The Saskatchewan NDP Pledge To Get Healthcare Out Of Last Place
New data reveals the depth of failure of Scott Moe and the Sask. Party on delivering the healthcare Saskatchewan people deserve.
The data, released through a freedom of information request made by the Saskatchewan NDP, shows more than 200,000 hours, or 8,613 days, of healthcare blackouts between Aug. 1, 2019, and May 10, 2024 at 58 hospitals and health centres across the province.
“We hear about the horrible reality of healthcare failures by this Sask. Party government every day — emergency rooms being closed without warning and people being denied the healthcare they so desperately need,” said Jared Clarke, NDP Critic for Rural & Remote Health.
“Saskatchewan’s healthcare is in last place because the current government put us there.”
The data provided indicates widespread blackouts to critical healthcare in communities like Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorkton and elsewhere. Most alarming is that 4,299 days of the reported blackouts involved emergency and acute care services.
The Town of Herbert has seen 971 total days worth of service blackouts alone, more than any other community.
The Northwest Health Facility in Meadow Lake has reported 195 service blackouts at its site, or about one every nine days over the past half-decade.
There have been a total of 231 days where basic radiography and laboratory services were not available at the Dr. F.H Wigmore Regional Hospital in Moose Jaw. That hospital has also seen repeated blackouts to obstetrics care, bariatric services, CT scans and more.
“We have a management problem — a government that prioritizes million-dollar junkets to Dubai over providing quality healthcare to people right here at home,” Clarke said. “And when it comes to healthcare, the Sask. Party spends ten times the cost to have companies in Calgary perform mammograms because they can’t fix the problem here. The hospital in Prince Albert will cost three times what was originally budgeted and the list of failures goes on and on.
“It’s time for change. It’s time for a government that will get healthcare out of last place.”
A full accounting of the service blackouts is attached to this release. It should be noted Saskatoon and Regina are not included in the data provided.
“The list of healthcare blackouts goes on and on, and behind every one is a story of Saskatchewan people’s pain and suffering that falls directly at the feet of Scott Moe and the Sask. Party,” said Vicki Mowat, NDP Health Critic.
“Saskatchewan is the birthplace of public healthcare but this government has driven the system into crisis — the proof is right here in the data we’re releasing today. We also have among the longest wait times for surgeries in the country and nearly 200,000 people in our province don’t have regular access to a doctor.”
Mowat added, “People are being denied the public healthcare they deserve right across the province each and every day. It’s unacceptable.”
“It’s time for change. It’s time for a Carla Beck-led Saskatchewan NDP Government that will deliver better healthcare and that won’t rest until every person in Saskatchewan has a doctor, until people can get the surgeries they need and our hospitals are open and ready for patients in the event of an emergency.”
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Click here to view the health service blackout data.