There have been some marked and remarkable changes undergone in the Sun Country Health Region (SCHR) since the provincial regional health care system was implemented 10 years ago.
One of the most striking changes that represents growth in demographics and programming is reflected in the overall budget increases during the decade.
The SCHR budget has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, moving from $80 million in that first formative stage which saw the merger of three health districts (Southeast, South Central and Moose Mountain) into one region, to $141.5 million in 2012-13. The region covers nearly 34,000 square kilometres and embraces 28 health-care facilities with just under 2,500 employees, an increase of about 300 staffers from that beginning stage of regional health coverage 10 years ago.
In their recently released annual report, Sun Country's administration provided a wealth of demographic information related to the health and well-being of the citizens it serves.
Speaking of the citizenry, in 2002-03, the exact population count in the newly formed Sun Country Health Region wasn't officially listed, but the annual report noted that it was in decline and had, in fact, dropped by 4.63 per cent from the previous year. The projection at the time was that the population would continue to decline by a total of 9.1 per cent by 2015.
But as it has now been documented, the population slide came to a halt about three years later. The report in 2007-08 noted the Sun Country population stood at 53,207, which was again down from the 2003 to 2005 figures, but up slightly from 2006, signalling the turnaround in population counts in this corner of the province.
The population in Sun Country now sits officially at 56,529, up 5.3 per cent while the overall provincial population that is soon to touch 1.2 million, was up 5.4 per cent over the previous year.
One thing that has remained consistent in Sun Country is the advanced age of the people. Over the 10-year period, the population here has been consistently older than the provincial average with 42.5 per cent of Sun Country's people being over the age of 45 compared with 40.6 per cent province-wide.
Sixteen per cent of Sun Country's population is over 65.
On the reverse side of that coin, Sun Country's youthful population (ages five to 14) was up by 0.52 per cent over the previous year. The 15 to 24 age bracket has also shown an increase over the past few years. The report indicated that there were 7,414 in that age group in 2009, 7,688 in 2011 and 7,576 in 2012. That translates into 13.3 per cent of the total population.
Breaking down the population into other categories, the SCHR report noted that 41.9 per cent of the people lived in either Estevan or Weyburn, the only two cities in the region, while 29.3 per cent live in one of the 17 towns. The 42 rural municipalities in Sun Country embraced 13.9 per cent of the total population while 13 per cent lived in the region's 36 villages and just under two per cent lived in three First Nations reserves.
The region has two district hospitals with St. Joseph's in Estevan being the largest with 53 acute care beds and 34 long-term care beds. About 300 babies are born in St. Joseph's every year.
When it comes down to the health of the population, Sun Country noted that 35.4 per cent of the adult population in the region could be officially declared obese compared with 37 per cent across the province. This was a slight increase over the 2010 obesity ratings. Across Canada, 33.9 per cent of the population is considered obese.
As for caring for the elderly, Sun Country provided seven long-term care facilities, and there was a 16 per cent increase in home-care services in the past year, meaning a total of 3,609 clients.
The number of heavy smokers in Sun Country dropped slightly, by 0.8 per cent to 24.3 per cent of the total population but that is still quite a bit higher than the provincial and national heavy smoker rate of 17.9 and 15.6 per cent respectively.
About 19.3 per cent of Sun Country's population stated they did not have a family doctor, compared with 16.4 per cent in 2010. Across the province, 22 per cent of the population did not have a family doctor.
Injuries requiring hospitalization were higher in Sun Country than the provincial average with 1,061 per 100,000 in this region compared with 772 across the province.
The number of surgeries performed in Sun Country's hospitals has fluctuated over the years depending on the availability of general surgeons from one year to the next.
In St. Joseph's Hospital there were 281 surgeries performed in 2012-13 compared with 306 in 2011-12 and 364 in 2008-09.
At the Weyburn General Hospital, there were 486 surgeries performed in 2012 compared with 358 in 2011 and 346 in 2009.
Emergency calls were also up across the region in 2012-13 with 4,472 calls in total with road ambulances required to travel 671,868 kilometres to provide emergency care. This was a three per cent increase over the 10-year average.
The centre with the biggest increase in call volume was Weyburn where the responders were called out 1,270 times, an increase of 50 over the previous year. There were 1,007 calls taken by Estevan-based emergency responders. Increases in emergency calls were noted in Wawota (107 calls) and Pangman (188 calls) as well as in Weyburn.
In an attempt to improve efficiencies on the worksites, over 1,100 employees in Sun Country have now received the first level of training in Hoshin Kanri (strategy deployment), often referred to as Lean training and deployment. Of those 1,100, 55 have been involved in the second step or intensive plan training.
In other efficiency moves, the region has implemented a paperless pay system for their employee base and have made significant improvements in discharge planning in concert with their counterparts in other health regions, especially the Regina-Qu'Appelle Health Region.
While the efficiency of those on the job has improved, the rate for those being off the job site due to sick leave, has risen, the report said. The sick leave level had decreased slightly in 2011-12, but was up again in 2012-13 by 5.4 per cent and was 4.8 per cent above the provincial average. However, premium pay for overtime and call-back service decreased by 7.32 per cent, which signaled a second consecutive year of reductions in that category.
On a final note, Sun Country reported the rate of physician arrivals and departures continued throughout the decade with four new doctors arriving in the past year while seven departed. Recent recruitment efforts have managed to alleviate the physician problem somewhat, bringing some stability to Estevan and area while still posing a challenge in some of the smaller communities and their 14 community hospitals and health centres.
