Some Saskatchewan patients are still travelling out of province for health care, though the Government of Saskatchewan has been making strides in improving access within the province.<\/p>\n
Two years ago this month, Kaitlyn Soron and her husband visited the Regina Legislature to speak about her young daughter\u2019s gastrointestinal health issues and having no appropriate health specialists<\/a> in Saskatchewan to assess her needs for care.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Today, Soron\u2019s daughter is receiving care from a regular specialist in Saskatoon.<\/p>\n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more happy and grateful,\u201d Soron said.<\/p>\n Soron\u2019s daughter has struggled with gastrointestinal health concerns since birth. When the medical specialist she saw left Saskatoon and there were no other specialists who could treat her daughter in the province, the family was left without care.<\/p>\n In 2024, Soron said their family wasn\u2019t getting answers on the best treatment for their daughter and because of the lack of availability of specialists and testing, they weren\u2019t able to move forward with a plan to best manage her care.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just simply that her quality of life was being affected dramatically, as was our entire family\u2019s,\u201d Soron explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we tried to get care for her, we were told that unless she basically had system failure of her gastrointestinal tract that we weren\u2019t going to be seen out of province, and so that was frustrating for us,\u201d Soron said.<\/p>\n When the province put the Pediatric Out-of-Province Travel Assistance Program in place on April 1, 2024, Soron said they didn\u2019t qualify, and Alberta refused to see Soron\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n While the Ministry of Health told Soron that her daughter\u2019s medical expenses would be covered, the cost of the trip would be up to their family.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, they (the Government of Saskatchewan) weren\u2019t doing their piece and replacing the physician, and so we felt like that financial burden shouldn\u2019t fall on us,\u201d Soron said.<\/p>\n However, after speaking at the legislature on April 10, 2024, a donor reached out to Soron and offered to pay for her family to travel to Toronto, where her daughter needed to go for care.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still so grateful for it,\u201d Soron said.<\/p>\n Now, a new specialist has come to Saskatoon. Soron called them \u201camazing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just feel like we\u2019re in the absolute best of hands,\u201d she said. \u201cThe care we received at the hospital was amazing. The whole team is wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n She said her family is grateful for the successful outcome of the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cI know any mom would do the same thing for their child, but I do think that a lot of my hard work did pay off and I think that the government really heard my concerns,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel so lucky that now we have a program here and it\u2019s benefiting so many kids, and it means less trips out of province.\u201d<\/p>\n Soron said she is proud of the efforts she and her family went to to advocate for her daughter\u2019s care. However, she is disappointed that it took so much effort and advocacy to ensure her daughter could receive the care she needed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re really encouraged by the progress and the creation of these resources and the physicians that are here and we just really hope that the work continues forward. It was a really long, hard journey, and it was exhausting and it was defeating, but it was worth it all.\u201d<\/p>\n She encouraged parents to never stop advocating for their own children, saying the stress of that work is worth it, even reflecting back on her own frustrating experiences.<\/p>\n How many people are travelling out of province?<\/p>\n According to the Government of Saskatchewan\u2019s Ministry of Health, 445 trips for medical care have been approved through the Pediatric Out-of-Province Travel Assistance Program since it began and families have been reimbursed $554,000.<\/p>\n Those numbers reflect an increase of 26 trips approved since Feb. 12, when the province reported 419 trips had been approved at a total of $513,000.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Health reported that 442 total requests have been made to the program. Reasons why a request might not have been approved included the availability of a sub-specialty in Saskatchewan or being over the age limit for the program.<\/p>\n The program assists families by reimbursing some costs associated with travelling outside of Saskatchewan for medical treatment<\/a>. Children under the age of 16 with a valid Saskatchewan health card and their family can be eligible.<\/p>\n Approved pediatric patients and one parent or guardian eligible for assistance with those travel expenses could receive up to $2,000 per trip.<\/p>\n According to the Government of Saskatchewan\u2019s website<\/a>, the program is not intended to cover all costs for families, but \u201cto reduce the financial impact on children and their families who have to seek medical treatment or diagnostic testing out-of-province when the medical services are not provided in Saskatchewan.\u201d<\/p>\n On March 9, the province released its Patients First Health Care Plan, outlining its \u201ccommitment to transform health care by improving access and bringing care closer to home,\u201d according to an emailed statement from the Ministry of Health. The 2026-27 budget announced on March 18 put health spending dollars largely into fulfilling that plan.<\/a><\/p>\n The province pointed to the plan as highlighting the \u201cincredible progress\u201d that has been made in recent years, \u201cincluding successes in recruitment for highly-needed specialists and physicians.\u201d<\/p>\n In the statement, the province highlighted that it has prioritized more anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, surgeons and pediatric sub-specialities practising in the province, including 21 pediatric sub-specialists recruited to Saskatchewan since April 1, 2024.<\/p>\n The province also referenced its new Patients First Health Care plan \u2014 announced by Premier Scott Moe on March 9<\/a> \u2014 which it said \u201chighlights the incredible progress we have made over the past several years, including successes in recruitment for highly-needed specialists and physicians.\u201d<\/p>\n Though requested, the province would not provide specifics on which medical specialists are still needed in Saskatchewan and which specialities presently have wait lists<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has helped stabilize and support pediatric gastroenterology services<\/a> and patients are now no longer required to travel out of province and are able to access care close to home,\u201d the province\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n It highlighted that Saskatchewan has \u201cone of the best physician compensation rates in the country,\u201d with the province recording an 80 per cent increase in the number of licensed physicians between 2007 and 2025. That increase of 1,400 doctors marks a 62 per cent increase in general practitioners and a 103 per cent increase in specialists, the province stated.<\/p>\n \u201cOur efforts continue to ensure all residents will have a primary care provider \u2014 physician or nurse practitioner \u2014 by the end of 2028,\u201d the Ministry of Health\u2019s statement read.<\/p>\n Concerns voiced, but improvements being made<\/p>\n Saskatchewan has had its share of health-care complaints and concerns, by health-care workers and patients, so far this year.<\/p>\n