For much of the past year, there has been speculation on what the government means when it talks about “transformational change,” and how it would impact health-care, education, government spending and other aspects provincial operations.
The results are in for the health sector, and transformational change has lived up to its billing.
Whether the changes are beneficial is unknown.
The government announced on Wednesday that it was moving from its current 12 health regions, which are governed by regional health authorities, to one provincial health authority to govern all aspects of health-care for Saskatchewan.
Health-care pundits in Saskatchewan knew that big changes were coming. The number of health regions was going to be slashed. After all, Saskatchewan has the third-most health regions among Canadian provinces.
And health-care remains, by far, the biggest expense for the government.
Most thought the government would reduce the number of health regions to as few as two, or as many as four or five. Manitoba, for example, has five health regions.
So to follow the lead of Alberta, and drop down to one, was a stunning development.
The switch to a central health authority will create all sorts of questions. While the provincial government claims there won’t be any changes to the level of service provided to Saskatchewan residents, one has to imagine there will be some change, since governance will be consolidated to one location, creating a greater distance between front-line staff and those who ultimately have the final say.
Cuts to the number of high-paid administrators in the health sector won’t raise much of a fuss from Saskatchewan residents. These efficiencies will be viewed as the upshot to a single health authority. But if people start to see a decline in the quality of care provided, or if there are significant job cuts elsewhere, the public will be fuming.
One also has to wonder how this will affect rural health-care, and the future of hospitals and health centres in smaller communities. Will the board members of the new monolithic health authority have the same commitment to health facilities in Midale, Gainsborough, Wawota and other small centres?
Will rural communities have adequate representation on the new health authority? Or will the vast majority of the seats be doled out to the cities?
Also, will these changes result in significant savings for the government? Will it result in a better use of health-care dollars, due to the savings on administration? Or will it simply mean more expenses in other areas, due to the costs associated with running one health authority?
Finally, will the new health authority be rushed into existence to meet the government’s desired operating time of this fall?
Ultimately, the province likely would have been better off with a few health regions, instead of one. Hopefully the health-care we receive won’t suffer as a result.
