The SHA said it monitors emergency department and acute care capacity across all hospitals in the province on a continuous, real-time basis. A scoring system is used to assess levels of risk and to guide appropriate actions at different thresholds. In an email to paNOW, the SHA said interpreting internal documents, which are used regularly by health system experts to inform decision making, outside of their intended context, should be done with caution.
“The wait times referenced do NOT represent the time it takes to receive care or have access to an emergency room physician. The data referenced reflect the entire time a patient spends in the ED, which will vary from patient to patient depending on the acuity level and type of care required,” the SHA wrote.
Jorgenson said that explanation is frustrating.
“I can only take at face value what that dashboard data says, but what I know is the dozens and dozens of people we talk to that tell stories that reinforce what the data is saying – that people are waiting very, very long times for care and sometimes actually receiving care essentially in public spaces which people often describe as being dehumanizing, where you’re having sometimes intimate procedures performed in a hallway. I honestly think in Saskatchewan, we’re better than this,” he said.
Jorgenson was in Prince Albert Thursday speaking to community members about healthcare. He pointed to recent news about the City of Prince Albert needing to come up with $30 million to help furnish and equip the Victoria Hospital expansion. He said the NDP doesn’t think taxpayers should have to foot the bill and residents he spoke to feel municipal taxpayers in the PA are already stretched to the limit.
“Yesterday, we learned that the provincial government borrowed an extra $650 million of taxpayer money to pay for expenses and overruns in cost. If they have $650 million for we’re not even sure what, then surely they can come up with $30 million to cover the expansion of Victoria Hospital so the citizens of PA do not have to have their property taxes rise.”
When the provincial government announced the renewal and expansion plans for the Victoria Hospital in 2020, it committed to fully fund the capital costs, waiving the 20 per cent community share. The city and regional municipalities are responsible for funding all the equipment and furniture needed to fill the hospital during the expansion phase of the project. The current estimate to do that is about $56 million. After the Boreal Healthcare Foundation makes its contribution, approximately $30 million of that price tag will fall to the city.
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teena.monteleone@pattisonmedia.com