![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/indicator-big.gif\")
<\/p>\n\t<\/p>\n
The NDP\u2019s report covers a broad range of solutions, including making primary care the foundation of the health-care system and putting patients and communities back at the centre of decision-making.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the time, health-care workers and patients complain the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the government have become disconnected from local health care, the needs of local health care, and ignore the skills and resources local communities have to deliver health care.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other solutions include retention and recruitment, as well as improving transparency, accountability and access to information, such as when a hospital is open and what services are available on a given day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jorgenson also acknowledged the province\u2019s mental health and addictions crisis and said it can have an impact on someone waiting for an ambulance or needing a bed in the emergency room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mental health and addictions crisis is affecting all aspects of the health-care system here in Prince Albert, and the government has really ignored that crisis and allowed it to spiral out of control.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the coming months, the NDP plans to work further on solutions to address the crisis in mental health and addictions. Jorgenson said he expects more specific policy suggestions to be released in the fall.<\/p>\n
Response from the government\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a statement emailed to paNOW by Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill, the document released by the NDP can hardly be called a health-care plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does not actually include anything resembling a plan. It is incredibly vague, relying on statements like \u2018make every dollar count,\u2019 with no clear actions, original innovation or timelines,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By contrast, Cockrill said the Patients First Health Care Plan is a comprehensive, provincewide strategy with specific actions and goals to improve access to care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some of the government\u2019s key actions include:\u00a0<\/p>\n
removing more than 240 clinical policies to allow nurses to practise to their full scope\u00a0
\nincreasing the number of undergraduate medical seats by 20\u00a0
\nincreasing the number of physician residency seats by 10\u00a0
\nexpanding access to virtual care\u00a0
\nadding six more urgent care centres throughout the province, for a total of seven\u00a0
\ncontinuing to recruit, train and increase the number of doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and other health-care professionals\u00a0
\nworking toward a target of 90 per cent of patients receiving diagnostic scans within 60 days by the end of 2028<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working closely with health-care professionals, municipalities and people across Saskatchewan \u2014 and acting on what we hear, delivering on the actions we have identified and making real progress for Saskatchewan patients,\u201d Cockrill said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPromising \u201cbig, bold changes,\u201d then delivering a plan this light on details, is exactly why nobody takes the NDP seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com<\/p>\n
On X: @nigelmaxwell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NDP\u2019s report covers a broad range of solutions, including making primary care the foundation of the health-care…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-761795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}