Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP is blaming Sask. Party mismanagement for Saskatoon hospital beds that sit unused.According to the most recent provincial government data, laid out in a study by the Canadian Institute of Health Information approximately half of Saskatoon hospital beds went unusedIn a press release, the Opposition NDP said the "alarming" findings were "due to Sask. Party mismanagement." Official Opposition Leader Carla Beck used the data to make an election pitch.“This province used to be a nation-leader in healthcare. I truly believe we can do it again, but it’ll take new ideas and a new government to fix what’s broken,” said Beck.“The Sask. Party has had 17 years to get it right and our hospitals have never felt more broken.” CIHI calculated occupancy rates for hospital beds or cribs that are staffed and in use based on the most recent provincial government data from 2022-23.Data from hundreds of Canadian hospitals and health centers indicates that the average occupancy rate across the country was 76%. When averaged together, the occupancy rates of Saskatoon’s hospitals is 52%. Saskatoon Hospitals Occupancy Rates follow.Royal University/Jim Pattison’s Children’s Hospital: 54%St. Paul’s Hospital: 66%Saskatoon City Hospital: 36%Among reporting children’s hospitals, Saskatoon’s Jim Pattison is an outlier when it comes to occupancy rates. The NDP says this is owing in part to a lack of specialists and families traveling out of province for care that used to be offered at home.Canadian Children’s Hospitals Occupancy Rates follow.Royal University/Jim Pattison’s Children’s Hospital: 54%Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario: 69%CHU Sainte-Justine, Quebec: 74%Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario: 76%Alberta Children's Hospital: 83%Health Critic Vicki Mowat said the children's hospital still has ten pediatric specialist positions that are vacant."Our children's hospital has the lowest occupancy rate of any children's hospital in Canada. That's due in part to the fact that the Sask. Party has driven away so many pediatric specialists, forcing families to have to travel out of province to get care at children's hospitals elsewhere. We can do so much better than this," Mowat told reporters in a press conference.“We don’t want our hospitals to be completely full all the time, but they should run smoothly and that’s just not happening.“Healthcare workers on the frontlines are the ones who know our hospitals the best, but this government just isn’t listening to them. It’s time for a change.”The NDP press release did not mention occupancy rates in Regina. The General Hospital had an occupancy rate of 79.5%, while the Pasqua was at 69.5%.In a new online campaign, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses says that Saskatchewan hospitals are buckling under staff shortages and mismanagement, leading to hallway healthcare and long wait times. Beck’s Saskatchewan NDP committed to listening to healthcare workers and forming the healthcare task force that Sun has called for since 2022. The Sask. Party government initiated a four-point Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan in 2022 to recruit, train, incentivize and retain health care providers. Below: a provincial health recruitment ad.
Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP is blaming Sask. Party mismanagement for Saskatoon hospital beds that sit unused.According to the most recent provincial government data, laid out in a study by the Canadian Institute of Health Information approximately half of Saskatoon hospital beds went unusedIn a press release, the Opposition NDP said the "alarming" findings were "due to Sask. Party mismanagement." Official Opposition Leader Carla Beck used the data to make an election pitch.“This province used to be a nation-leader in healthcare. I truly believe we can do it again, but it’ll take new ideas and a new government to fix what’s broken,” said Beck.“The Sask. Party has had 17 years to get it right and our hospitals have never felt more broken.” CIHI calculated occupancy rates for hospital beds or cribs that are staffed and in use based on the most recent provincial government data from 2022-23.Data from hundreds of Canadian hospitals and health centers indicates that the average occupancy rate across the country was 76%. When averaged together, the occupancy rates of Saskatoon’s hospitals is 52%. Saskatoon Hospitals Occupancy Rates follow.Royal University/Jim Pattison’s Children’s Hospital: 54%St. Paul’s Hospital: 66%Saskatoon City Hospital: 36%Among reporting children’s hospitals, Saskatoon’s Jim Pattison is an outlier when it comes to occupancy rates. The NDP says this is owing in part to a lack of specialists and families traveling out of province for care that used to be offered at home.Canadian Children’s Hospitals Occupancy Rates follow.Royal University/Jim Pattison’s Children’s Hospital: 54%Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario: 69%CHU Sainte-Justine, Quebec: 74%Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario: 76%Alberta Children's Hospital: 83%Health Critic Vicki Mowat said the children's hospital still has ten pediatric specialist positions that are vacant."Our children's hospital has the lowest occupancy rate of any children's hospital in Canada. That's due in part to the fact that the Sask. Party has driven away so many pediatric specialists, forcing families to have to travel out of province to get care at children's hospitals elsewhere. We can do so much better than this," Mowat told reporters in a press conference.“We don’t want our hospitals to be completely full all the time, but they should run smoothly and that’s just not happening.“Healthcare workers on the frontlines are the ones who know our hospitals the best, but this government just isn’t listening to them. It’s time for a change.”The NDP press release did not mention occupancy rates in Regina. The General Hospital had an occupancy rate of 79.5%, while the Pasqua was at 69.5%.In a new online campaign, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses says that Saskatchewan hospitals are buckling under staff shortages and mismanagement, leading to hallway healthcare and long wait times. Beck’s Saskatchewan NDP committed to listening to healthcare workers and forming the healthcare task force that Sun has called for since 2022. The Sask. Party government initiated a four-point Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan in 2022 to recruit, train, incentivize and retain health care providers. Below: a provincial health recruitment ad.