SASKATOON—The government and the Saskatchewan NDP have been going back and forth on the issue of rural emergency rooms, with the Opposition calling them closures, obtaining the information from various social media posts by residents, while the latter is saying they are only service disruptions that were posted on the Saskatchewan Health Authority website.
Opposition Associate Shadow Health Minister Keith Jorgenson, during a media availability on Tuesday, July 15, outside the government’s Cabinet Office in Saskatoon, has called on the government to address the series of ER closures in rural Saskatchewan, adding that refusal to do so endangers the lives of residents living in the affected and nearby communities.
SaskToday reached out to the government, asking for answers to the NDP’s claims and an additional statement on the issue, but they have yet to respond as of the time of posting.
Jorgenson said that his office will step in and do the government's and the Minister of Health’s job in notifying people of hospital ER closures because the individuals tasked with disseminating the information refuse to do their job.
“When they close a hospital, they merely put a sandwich board out front in hopes that someone doesn't drive in the wrong direction to that hospital and end up dying. So, I'm encouraging anyone aware of a hospital disruption or closure anywhere in the province to contact my office at 306-250-1250 and let us know,” said Jorgenson.
“We, in turn, will notify the public of this closure in an attempt to keep people safe and prevent somebody from needlessly dying in front of a closed ER. You know, they're gambling with people's lives and hoping that someone isn't going to show up in a closed ER and die. This is life and death situations, and the government isn't bothering to tell anyone.”
Jorgenson referred to the government’s inaction as an “iceberg of incompetence,” noting that 90 per cent of the dysfunction in the province's healthcare system is not being reported, and called out Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill for their "cowardly actions". He also accused the government of deliberately hiding the closures, which he said is dangerous and reckless.
He added that in the past month, there have been 16 rural hospital closures, which were discovered through the town’s Facebook pages and Buy and Sell pages, with patients arriving in Kamsack’s ER seeing a notice to head 30 minutes west to the hospital in Canora or nearly an hour to hospitals in Yorkton or Preeceville.
Preeceville has also seen its closures in recent weeks. ER closures have also been reported in the communities of Watrous, Edam, St. Walburg, Paradise Hill, Kipling, Broadview, Herbert, Porcupine Plain, Leader, Arcola, Kerrobert, Turtleford, Maple Creek, and Biggar, in addition to Esterhazy, Davidson, Shaunavon, and Maple Creek.
Jorgenson said that some of those mentioned on the list would result in service disruptions. However, around three-quarters of the hospitals on the list have ER closures where there is no doctor available, which has a cascading effect on the services provided by healthcare facilities in rural Saskatchewan.
“The critical need is again centred on the lack of emergency services and ineffective communication. Once again, we encourage people to contact my office or the offices of other NDP MLAs to inform them about the service closures. Let the public know, so someone doesn't race to go to the wrong ER and a tragedy occurs,” said Jorgenson.
