Sask NDP pledged to create an "accountability commission" to investigate Saskatchewan's troubled healthcare payroll system.Nicole Sarauer, NDP candidate for Regina Douglas Park, announced the plan to investigate the Administrative Information Management System (AIMS). The system launched in the summer but criticized by healthcare workers who struggled to receive timely or accurate pay due to errors."This accountability commission's ability will be to look into the complete picture of what actually went wrong here and how that happened, how much it cost and how it can be improved in the future," Sarauer told the media.The Saskatchewan Health Authority previously apologized to workers affected by the system's issues. Sarauer noted that pay problems continued to persist and procurement issues handled by AIMS caused additional problems.While Sarauer did not guarantee an NDP government would eliminate AIMS, she emphasized the importance of understanding what happened. She released a memo obtained through a freedom of information request, revealing the province spent $203 million on AIMS as of June 2024."This is money that could have been invested to fix health care. It could have been invested to hire more nurses, doctors and paramedics. It would go a long way to improving care at the hospitals here in Regina, in Saskatoon and right across the province," said Sarauer..Sask Party accused of hiding true cost of healthcare IT system.The memo was the first confirmation of the province's total cost for AIMS. The provincial auditor previously projected the system could cost up to $240 million.According to the memo, the total cost for AIMS would only be available once the system is completely operational. No timeline was provided for the completion of this process.The NDP's announcement came as the party aimed to address ongoing concerns about the healthcare system's efficiency and financial management.
