The Saskatchewan NDP provided their thoughts to Discover Estevan on the situation happening with the emergency room at the Radville Marian Health Centre. There have been a number of closures of the facility in recent weeks, with 10 since the start of February.
Meara Conway is the shadow Minister of Rural and Remote Health. She said this is an issue happening across the province, but what is happening in Radville isn’t insignificant.
“It’s due not only to a doctor shortage, but a nursing shortage as well,” Conway said about the situation. “We’ve been very vocal about the need to double down on recruitment and retention efforts. There are a lot of things that we could be doing better. We see today in Saskatchewan, fewer nurses working in rural Saskatchewan than when Scott Moe took the Premier’s office.”
In October, the virtual physician program was rolled out in Radville while the community waited for the arrival of another doctor. That doctor, the third for Radville, arrived in February. The use of the virtual physician program was to help alleviate the closures, but there are still issues with nurse training, and the availability of doctors for the virtual program, depending on other centres that are using the program at that time.
“We’re obviously watching that very closely,” Conway said of the virtual physician program. “And to be honest, we’re concerned because I think if you ask anyone they would expect in-person care, especially when they’re in an emergency situation.”
Conway noted the program has been introduced as a temporary solution for the province, but it seems to be turning into more than just a band-aid fix.
“Like so many other temporary solutions in our system, be it travel nurses, sending patients out of province for more expensive care, we see them doubling down, renewing contracts, expanding these programs like we’re seeing under this virtual physician program.”
The newest physician in Radville, according to the SHA, recently completed the SIPPA – Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment – program. Conway said the program has had mixed success as the government uses it to help staff rural and remote areas. “There’s a lot more that we could be doing, I think, to strengthen the program, but what I hear from a lot of existing rural and remote health care workers, is even the ones that are there sticking it out, trying to make this work, that they don’t feel supported,” Conway stated. “There’s a lot that could be done that would incentivize them to stay. We know that the people that are most likely to stay and work in rural Saskatchewan are people that have roots in rural Saskatchewan, and certainly we’re not doing enough to recruit and retain those folks”
During the Premier’s address to SARM on Tuesday, Scott Moe hinted there could be increases to the health budget coming, after the 12 per cent included in the 2024-25 budget. Conway says she would like to see support for the frontline, which is something they are hearing in the opposition office.
“It’s a question of priorities,” she said. “I think there’s a lot that we could be doing with the budget we already have in health care, where we could be spending those dollars much more effectively, but unfortunately, this government is not thinking long term. They’re looking for quick fixes.”