Saskatchewan’s rural healthcare system is under renewed scrutiny after emergency rooms in several communities were left without doctors in recent days, prompting the province to suggest some residents seek care in Alberta instead.Sask NDP says the emergency room in Maple Creek nearly shut down entirely on July 18 due to a lack of physician coverage — a closure that was only averted when the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) secured a virtual doctor..Ford, Moe, Smith unite to advance pipeline projects, trade corridors.“Imagine arriving at a hospital in need of emergency care only to discover there are no doctors present,” said Keith Jorgenson, the NDP’s Associate Shadow Health Minister. “Virtual care can be helpful in many circumstances, but there is a time and place for it. An ER is not that place.”A post on the Town of Maple Creek’s Facebook page confirmed that a virtual physician had been found for the shift, allowing the Southwest Integrated Healthcare Facility to stay “open.” The original closure notice had advised residents to consider seeking care across the provincial border in Medicine Hat, AB..“Emergency healthcare via webcam, that’s where we’re at,” Jorgenson said. “This is ridiculous and, still, we see nothing from the health minister or the premier. No plan to end this crisis, no apology to the people they’ve so deeply failed.”Jorgenson also raised concerns about the lack of public communication from the Sask Party government, accusing it of hiding the extent of service disruptions across the province..UPDATED: Autopsy confirms Montreal girl drowned, father charged with murder, felt 'tied down'.“People are turning up every day to rural emergency rooms to find them closed, and now even those that are open may not have a doctor present,” he said. “I am calling on the government to come clean today on just how many emergency rooms are ‘open’ in Saskatchewan right now without the proper frontline healthcare staff needed to provide safe and proper care.”.According to the Sask NDP, the emergency department in Watrous was also operating without a physician, while services in Davidson and Kipling were described as “spotty” after researchers phoned local facilities.Sask NDP says the crisis reflects a broader failure by the Sask Party to spend adequately on rural healthcare recruitment and retention, calling it a growing threat to public safety..Parks Canada revokes permit for MAGA supporting Christian artist's concert over ‘safety’ concerns.Saskatchewan government has not yet responded publicly to the latest concerns.
