The leader of Saskatchewan’s Buffalo Party says the province needs to revamp its approach to rural health care.Phil Zajac spoke to the Western Standard following a public meeting in Oxbow, SK, November 20 regarding local health care. Representatives of the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), physicians new to the southeast Saskatchewan town and Cannington MLA Daryl Harrison were in attendance.Oxbow hosted a similar meeting back in February to discuss a local nursing shortage, which led to numerous service disruptions at the Galloway Health Centre and temporary closures of its emergency ward. In June, two local physicians announced they were leaving the community. The SHA announced in August it would implement a virtual physician program in the town. Oxbow is back up to three physicians.The SHA boasted at the meeting the province had more than 700 new registered nurses this year. Zajac said when he asked how many hospitals the province had, the SHA official did not know.“Everybody in the crowd just had this dumbfounded look on their faces. Like, seriously, you don't know?” said Zajac, adding he found the answer of 75 online. He pointed out Oxbow hospital had funding for six nurses but only had two left and asked why they couldn’t have at least two more. Although Oxbow can have help from travelling nurses, he believes this is not preferential.Oxbow is one of many communities eligible for the Saskatchewan Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive, a one-time rural and remote recruitment incentive of up to $50,000 to health care workers in high priority positions.Zajac called on the province to go further and expand its training capacity for doctors and nurses, making a few years of service in rural areas a condition for their training and contract. He also called on health officials to refuse to authorize transfers of rural doctors into cities until a replacement has been found.“Why isn't that policy? If you're poaching doctors for Regina, which, there's no shortage of doctors in Regina, say, ‘Yeah, we'll give you a transfer, but we need to find you a replacement first,’” he said.Zajac said his grandfather, who was a physician, did house calls and he wonders where that sense of obligation to serve people has gone. More recently, his sister, who works in health care, had a growing cancerous tumour. Surgery was scheduled but cancelled three times and the tumour had grown to a three-pound mass by the time it was removed.“I said [at the meeting] ‘Forget about the poor care. Think about the people who are at home. They know they're very ill, they've got a disease that can kill them and nobody cares. Nobody cares because if they did she would have had her surgery right away and done.“‘The mental aspect of the poor health care is just as bad as the poor health care itself. It's technically free but it's horrible.’”Earlier this year, Elaine Walkon of Estevan offered a $2 million donation to fund an MRI and its staffing for her community. The offer was made by letter March 23, but refused by Health Minister Paul Merriman. In a reply, he said service volumes, population, staffing, wait times and the money it takes to operate an MRI factor into where one is placed.The Rural Municipality of Browning wrote the minister August 23 to protest, "We cannot logically understand the decision of the Ministry of Health” they wrote, adding the region was in “dire need of better MRI services.” The Buffalo Party and NDP also protested.Zajac said he challenged officials at the recent meeting to ask when, not if, the MRI would be there.“Everybody in Saskatchewan knows that the MRI waitlist is nine to 12 months,” he said.“I said, ‘Sometimes, whether it's in business or life, even though the economics isn’t perfect, just do the right thing.’”Zajac said every community needs a school, a hospital and a church, and without them people move elsewhere.“I’m not a politician. But I just genuinely care about people, and the way things are going, we're going down a bad road, and it's not gonna get better if we don't stop it,” he said.“We're the ones that are holding the parties accountable right now, and the NDP isn't. They're just taking a paycheque. They do the odd little blurb here and there. But they don't do anything that has any substance.”The Buffalo Party is having a quarterly meeting in Davidson, SK, on Saturday. Zajac said his speeches across the province have been well-received.“We let everybody know in the province that the provincial government turned down a $2 million gift,” he said.“I'm going to hold them accountable and I'm not gonna let them off the hook. Those days are over. I've been travelling around speaking and I just tell the crowds there will never be another day where an MLA we're excited to go to work because the fun days are over.”Zajac said his party advanced ideas the provincial government has since pursued, such as more control over immigration, tax collection and perhaps a provincial police force. He said he has more ideas on health care but he will keep them for next fall’s election campaign.“I'm not going to give another really good idea and have the Sask Party cannibalize it again. Nah. I'm done. I'm done with that. They've implemented five of our pillar policies already, and I just thank them all the time.”A spokesman for the Ministry of Health responded to an inquiry from Western Standard. Dale Hunter said Oxbow has one physician currently on leave and the town will have a “full complement of physicians” when the doctor returns to work In December. The province has also launched a 24/7 Virtual Physician pilot program to enable nursing staff in Oxbow to call a Virtual Physician for further assessment when a patient presents at the ER and no local physician is available to provide coverage.The Government of Saskatchewan recently enhanced the Rural Physician Incentive Program (RPIP) to provide funding of up to $200,000 over five years to help attract more family physicians to rural and northern communities across Saskatchewan. Eligibility has expanded beyond new graduates to include physicians who take up practice in rural and northern communities following the successful completion of the SIPPA program.The government and SHA have also implemented the provincial Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan to recruit, train, and retain physicians and health-care professionals. These initiatives include expanding medical residency seats at the University of Saskatchewan from 120 to 128 to train more doctors; expanding the Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment program from 36 to 45 seats per year, establishing a mentorship and support program for physicians who complete SIPPA; and expanding eligibility for all community-based, fee-for-service family physicians to receive an additional payment per visit service to incentivize family physicians to extend their office hours.
The leader of Saskatchewan’s Buffalo Party says the province needs to revamp its approach to rural health care.Phil Zajac spoke to the Western Standard following a public meeting in Oxbow, SK, November 20 regarding local health care. Representatives of the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), physicians new to the southeast Saskatchewan town and Cannington MLA Daryl Harrison were in attendance.Oxbow hosted a similar meeting back in February to discuss a local nursing shortage, which led to numerous service disruptions at the Galloway Health Centre and temporary closures of its emergency ward. In June, two local physicians announced they were leaving the community. The SHA announced in August it would implement a virtual physician program in the town. Oxbow is back up to three physicians.The SHA boasted at the meeting the province had more than 700 new registered nurses this year. Zajac said when he asked how many hospitals the province had, the SHA official did not know.“Everybody in the crowd just had this dumbfounded look on their faces. Like, seriously, you don't know?” said Zajac, adding he found the answer of 75 online. He pointed out Oxbow hospital had funding for six nurses but only had two left and asked why they couldn’t have at least two more. Although Oxbow can have help from travelling nurses, he believes this is not preferential.Oxbow is one of many communities eligible for the Saskatchewan Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive, a one-time rural and remote recruitment incentive of up to $50,000 to health care workers in high priority positions.Zajac called on the province to go further and expand its training capacity for doctors and nurses, making a few years of service in rural areas a condition for their training and contract. He also called on health officials to refuse to authorize transfers of rural doctors into cities until a replacement has been found.“Why isn't that policy? If you're poaching doctors for Regina, which, there's no shortage of doctors in Regina, say, ‘Yeah, we'll give you a transfer, but we need to find you a replacement first,’” he said.Zajac said his grandfather, who was a physician, did house calls and he wonders where that sense of obligation to serve people has gone. More recently, his sister, who works in health care, had a growing cancerous tumour. Surgery was scheduled but cancelled three times and the tumour had grown to a three-pound mass by the time it was removed.“I said [at the meeting] ‘Forget about the poor care. Think about the people who are at home. They know they're very ill, they've got a disease that can kill them and nobody cares. Nobody cares because if they did she would have had her surgery right away and done.“‘The mental aspect of the poor health care is just as bad as the poor health care itself. It's technically free but it's horrible.’”Earlier this year, Elaine Walkon of Estevan offered a $2 million donation to fund an MRI and its staffing for her community. The offer was made by letter March 23, but refused by Health Minister Paul Merriman. In a reply, he said service volumes, population, staffing, wait times and the money it takes to operate an MRI factor into where one is placed.The Rural Municipality of Browning wrote the minister August 23 to protest, "We cannot logically understand the decision of the Ministry of Health” they wrote, adding the region was in “dire need of better MRI services.” The Buffalo Party and NDP also protested.Zajac said he challenged officials at the recent meeting to ask when, not if, the MRI would be there.“Everybody in Saskatchewan knows that the MRI waitlist is nine to 12 months,” he said.“I said, ‘Sometimes, whether it's in business or life, even though the economics isn’t perfect, just do the right thing.’”Zajac said every community needs a school, a hospital and a church, and without them people move elsewhere.“I’m not a politician. But I just genuinely care about people, and the way things are going, we're going down a bad road, and it's not gonna get better if we don't stop it,” he said.“We're the ones that are holding the parties accountable right now, and the NDP isn't. They're just taking a paycheque. They do the odd little blurb here and there. But they don't do anything that has any substance.”The Buffalo Party is having a quarterly meeting in Davidson, SK, on Saturday. Zajac said his speeches across the province have been well-received.“We let everybody know in the province that the provincial government turned down a $2 million gift,” he said.“I'm going to hold them accountable and I'm not gonna let them off the hook. Those days are over. I've been travelling around speaking and I just tell the crowds there will never be another day where an MLA we're excited to go to work because the fun days are over.”Zajac said his party advanced ideas the provincial government has since pursued, such as more control over immigration, tax collection and perhaps a provincial police force. He said he has more ideas on health care but he will keep them for next fall’s election campaign.“I'm not going to give another really good idea and have the Sask Party cannibalize it again. Nah. I'm done. I'm done with that. They've implemented five of our pillar policies already, and I just thank them all the time.”A spokesman for the Ministry of Health responded to an inquiry from Western Standard. Dale Hunter said Oxbow has one physician currently on leave and the town will have a “full complement of physicians” when the doctor returns to work In December. The province has also launched a 24/7 Virtual Physician pilot program to enable nursing staff in Oxbow to call a Virtual Physician for further assessment when a patient presents at the ER and no local physician is available to provide coverage.The Government of Saskatchewan recently enhanced the Rural Physician Incentive Program (RPIP) to provide funding of up to $200,000 over five years to help attract more family physicians to rural and northern communities across Saskatchewan. Eligibility has expanded beyond new graduates to include physicians who take up practice in rural and northern communities following the successful completion of the SIPPA program.The government and SHA have also implemented the provincial Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan to recruit, train, and retain physicians and health-care professionals. These initiatives include expanding medical residency seats at the University of Saskatchewan from 120 to 128 to train more doctors; expanding the Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment program from 36 to 45 seats per year, establishing a mentorship and support program for physicians who complete SIPPA; and expanding eligibility for all community-based, fee-for-service family physicians to receive an additional payment per visit service to incentivize family physicians to extend their office hours.
