Saskatchewan NDP called for an end to what it describes as a “highway healthcare mess” under Scott Moe’s government. Sask NDP leader Carla Beck promised to invest $1.1 billion to keep health centres open and improve access to healthcare.Melissa Patterson, NDP candidate for Moose Jaw Wakamow, criticized the current system..OLDCORN: Moe-mentum... Sask Party gains momentum as election heats up.“Scott Moe has said he’s running on his record. Well, here it is — a highway healthcare mess,” she said. “People are turning up at their local health centre in need of care, only to find a closed sign, and then they’re forced to turn around and head back up the highway — that isn’t right.”The NDP revealed 67 hospital closure notices were issued across Saskatchewan from 2022 to 2024..HAUBRICH: In Saskatchewan, a plague on both their wasteful houses!.Many patients needing emergency care were sent to health centres more than 100 kilometres away. In Moose Jaw, staff shortages at Wigmore Hospital in July and August forced stroke and trauma patients to travel 75 kilometres to Regina for treatment.Cheantelle Fisher, NDP candidate for Moose Jaw North, shared more concerns. “What we’re talking about here is multiple hours driving on the highway in a medical emergency,” she said. “Sometimes people are forced to drive themselves too while they’re terrified and in incredible pain.”Fisher added, “We’ve talked to mothers forced to give birth on the side of the highway, to people who turned up to an emergency room not knowing it had been closed for days. We need healthcare to be there for people and we need more transparency when it isn’t.”.MERLE: Here's why Balgonie female changing room scandal is a game-changer for parents rights.Currently, the Saskatchewan Health Authority does not have a central website to confirm hospital open hours. Residents often rely on Facebook posts or signs on emergency room doors to find out if a hospital is closed. The NDP plans to create an online dashboard to report any unplanned emergency room closures.“Without that transparency, people are playing a risky game that could mean life or death,” Fisher said. “Say a loved one experiences a medical emergency on Oct. 10 in southeast Saskatchewan and heads 30 minutes to the Galloway Health Centre in Oxbow only to find it closed. Your options are now to drive another 45 minutes to Estevan or backtrack 45 minutes to Arcola – by then, it could be too late.”.Sask Teachers Federation supports ‘inclusive’ biological boys in female spaces policy.The NDP also pledged to hire, train, recruit, and retain healthcare workers to reduce emergency room wait times. They aim to keep thousands of healthcare workers in Saskatchewan and create 800 new positions in areas with the greatest need.“We’re going to get to work fixing healthcare on Day 1,” Patterson said. “We know healthcare has been driven into last place by Scott Moe and the Sask Party, but our message is people don’t have to settle for this. The people of Saskatchewan can go out today and vote for better healthcare — they can vote for change.”
