Sacks’ CO poisoning jumping-off point for lively debate

(Editor's note: This column was published in the March 17 edition of the Battlefords News-Optimist.)

Carbon monoxide poisoning and the hyperbaric chamber at the hospital in Moose Jaw were raised as issues in the legislature Wednesday on a day in which the Battlefords were well represented.

Gail and Jim Sack, both victims of carbon monoxide poisoning in their home in late January, were at the legislature to advocate in support of a hyperbaric chamber, which they credited with saving their lives.

Cut Knife-Turtleford MLA Larry Doke rose in the legislature to formally introduce them.

The Speaker: — I recognize the member for Cut Knife-Turtleford.

Mr. Doke: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to introduce some good friends today in the west gallery. Today we have with us Gail and Jim Sack who later today are going to be meeting with the Rural and Remote Health minister after question period.

Gail is the former mayor of the Town of Battleford and currently is a lab and x-ray tech at Prairie North in the Frontier Mall. Jim owns Sad Sack’s Welding, a very good welding shop in town, in North Battleford, that does very well. Jim and I played hockey together for lots of years, and by our own admissions, we’re pretty good hockey players. But Jim is most noted for his post-game activity. He was tremendous at it. Accompanying them is Jim’s brother Bruce and his wife, Irene. And I would ask all members to welcome them to this Assembly.

The issue of the hyperbaric chamber and its future is not a new one. A new Moose Jaw Hospital is set to open this year, and the design has been under fire from critics for some time over the exclusion of a hyperbaric chamber that has been a feature of the existing hospital. 

When Question Period started, opposition leader Cam Broten rose to his feet on the issue involving the Sacks. This is the exchange that followed as recorded in Hansard.

Mr. Broten: — Gail and Jim Sack are here today along with members of their family. Gail and Jim were victims of carbon monoxide poisoning in their home in North Battleford. They were transferred by ambulance to Moose Jaw at a cost of $3,500 and they received life-saving treatment in the hyperbaric chamber in Moose Jaw.

Will the Premier agree to meet with Gail and Jim today and hear first-hand about their experience, their life-saving experience in the hyperbaric chamber?

Premier Brad Wall was at the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention, so MLA Greg Ottenbreit, minister of Rural and Remote Health, answered questions on the issue in the legislature. 

Hon. Mr. Ottenbreit: —  We certainly understand and appreciate the value of the benefits of a hyperbaric chamber that it has provided to some rural residents, Mr. Speaker. We also understand that most burn victims are treated within Saskatchewan at either regional hospitals or tertiary centres and carbon monoxide can also be treated locally.

Patients who have been exposed to CO2 (sci) can be very effectively treated with high-flow oxygen, and this treatment may be provided by nasal-inhaled oxygen at much higher levels than room air or, in extreme cases, intubation and mechanical ventilation if ICU care is needed, then transferred to a facility with ICU coupled with appropriate blood testing. All emergency departments would treat a CO2 (sic) poisoning according to their available service levels, including lab and ICU, and facilitate transfers to other centres as needed. Generally hyperbaric therapy is used as an adjunctive therapy, post-acute-care treatment after the emergent care provided.

Mr. Speaker, but also to the member’s question, I would be happy to meet with the two individuals right after question period as, I believe, was offered and arranged by the member from Cut Knife-Turtleford.

An unsatisfied Broten continued his line of questioning and used the hyperbaric chamber issue as a jumping-off point to blast the province’s Lean contract with John Black and Associates, which has been a continuing focus of the NDP opposition questioning over the past several months. Lean has been used in the design of a number of new hospitals in the province, including the new Saskatchewan Hospital project in North Battleford.  

Here is the exchange that followed in the legislature from Hansard. 

Mr. Broten: — Mr. Speaker, Gail and Jim have come to the legislature today to share their story because they have not received answers from this government and they have not received a listening ear about how important this service is to Saskatchewan patients.

The Moose Jaw Hospital has the only hyperbaric chamber between Toronto and Edmonton. This public hyperbaric chamber has been used to help victims of burns, carbon monoxide poisoning and people with wounds that are taking a long time to heal. But there won’t be a public hyperbaric chamber in the new Moose Jaw Hospital, and it doesn’t sit right with Gail and Jim Sack.

The problem is, Mr. Speaker, this government hired its $40 million American lean consultant who shrunk the Moose Jaw Hospital, the size of it. There’ll be 30 per cent fewer patient rooms, dropping from 99 to 72, and the public hyperbaric chamber is being left out because there isn’t the room. My question to the premier: how can he explain that? 

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister for Rural and Remote Health.

Hon. Mr. Ottenbreit: — … Mr. Speaker, I pointed out the alternative therapies that are generally accepted. And it’s not me as the Minister of Rural and Remote Health: this practice is an example of best practice. It’s not driven by the Ministry of Health. It’s driven by medical professionals and endorsed by medical professionals countrywide, Mr. Speaker.

I have spoken about the services that are available throughout the province in other hospitals, Mr. Speaker, other health facilities with high-flow oxygen and the services that generally can go to help with those situations, and that hyperbaric therapy is recognized as an additional therapy to that, Mr. Speaker.

Not to discredit the benefits that it has contributed but, Mr. Speaker, I’d also point out to the member opposite that the existing hyperbaric chamber in Moose Jaw has been used about 20 times a year for the last five years, so admittedly valuable but very low usage. And, Mr. Speaker, I would also correct the member opposite that it was not leaned out of this facility. In fact, the priorities of the region and the foundation were set aside as MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] expanded surgical services and enhanced patient . . . 

The Speaker: — Next question. I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.

Mr. Broten: — Mr. Speaker, make no mistake. It is this government who has shrunk the size of the Moose Jaw Hospital. It is this government that is pulling out this important public service from the people of Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker.

Okay, sure, the public hyperbaric chamber may need to be refurbished at a cost of about $70,000. And even, Mr. Speaker, if the hyperbaric chamber needed to be replaced, it would be a cost of about $120,000. But that’s no excuse for this government to pull this service from the patients, Mr. Speaker, who have benefited greatly and whose lives have been saved because of the treatment, Mr. Speaker. John Black, John Black, their favourite American Lean consultant, Mr. Speaker, burns through that kind of money in a blink of an eye. Miss two and a half of his workshops, Mr. Speaker, would cover the cost of a new hyperbaric chamber. Gail and Jim Sack cannot understand why this government would refuse to ensure that a public hyperbaric chamber is in the Moose Jaw Hospital. It just doesn’t make any sense.

My question to the Premier: why would he want, why would he want to send Saskatchewan patients out of the province in order to receive this important treatment?

The Speaker: — I recognize the member for Rural and Remote Health.

Hon. Mr. Ottenbreit: — Mr. Speaker, I’ll reiterate this. This facility, this service was not leaned out of the Moose Jaw Hospital. The Moose Jaw Hospital, from the information I’ve been able to acquire, was designed five . . . the initial steps were designed five years ago, much before the contract in question.

But, Mr. Speaker, I know the members opposite don’t like hearing this because they like doom and gloom, Mr. Speaker. But the Lean initiatives thus far, although they discredit the Canadian Blood Services, the blood service efficiencies of 35 — now we know it’s 50 million — outside of the contract that’s in mention, Mr. Speaker, but still attributed to Lean. We know an additional $75 million in savings have been attributed to lean and lean practices within the province, Mr. Speaker.

And even in those numbers, and I know from personal experience with . . . Let’s take for example the primary health clinic in Yorkton, a facility that admittedly by the region, by the designers there, would have needed about 1,000 square feet of storage space for extra stock, stock that may be hard to utilize quickly, is down to a four-by-twelve closet that is a lot less expensive to develop, and rental on commercial space over the years.

The Speaker: — I recognize the Leader of the Opposition.

Mr. Broten: — Mr. Speaker, it is widely understood by any thinking person in the province that this government’s calculations, when it comes to their so-called Lean savings, are fiction, Mr. Speaker. That has been shown time and time again.

And we’ve seen their approach with other examples, Mr. Speaker. We’ve seen it with the children’s hospital in Saskatoon. This government brought in John Black, shrunk the design. Government applauded wildly, Mr. Speaker, then gave John Black a mountain of cash. Then months later they realize, uh-oh we shrunk it too much. Back to the drawing board, Mr. Speaker, spending more money to fix what was leaned out.

In the same way, the government has leaned the design of the Moose Jaw Hospital. It’ll be much smaller, will have fewer rooms, and will offer fewer vital public services like the hyperbaric chamber. My question, Mr. Speaker: is the Premier ready to admit this is a mistake?

And here’s the member from Moose Jaw North. You’d think the member from Moose Jaw North would stand up for his community, for the people . . . [inaudible] . . . for this government.

Mr. Speaker, what will it take for this stubborn, stubborn government to admit that they made a mistake? Do we have to wait until there’s hallway medicine and people are lined up in the smaller Moose Jaw Hospital, and then we see patients being shipped out of province to get the treatment they need? What will it take for them to admit this mistake?

The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister for Rural and Remote Health.

Hon. Mr. Ottenbreit: — Mr. Speaker, I think I heard the member opposite use the term fictional again. And, Mr. Speaker, I mean we can debate in this House, I mean respectfully, and I’m all up for that. But, Mr. Speaker, to call, if they want to call some of our information fictional, well that’s up to them, Mr. Speaker. But we’re talking about people, professionals that are engaged in the lean process, that support the Lean process. We’re talking about chief financial officers, Mr. Speaker, throughout the health regions, the Health Quality Council that are not political. They’re not in this House, Mr. Speaker. They’re confirming these numbers.

And, Mr. Speaker, as I’ve stated, some of the examples that I’ve seen through the initial, this last rollout of Lean savings, doesn’t even include examples that I know personally about, Mr. Speaker. And that’s not even, you know, speaking about some of the improvements to health care that don’t have a financial amount tagged to them, Mr. Speaker.

And the children’s hospital, Mr. Speaker, let me point out that it has nothing to do with Lean being the size it was, Mr. Speaker. It had to be upsized because of the 10 per cent growth in the population of this province.