Saskatchewan Party government is under fire for its failure to recruit and retain healthcare workers in west-central Saskatchewan, resulting in devastating service closures that are putting patient safety at risk.
“The people of Saskatchewan, their health and well-being, are being taken for granted by this Sask Party government,” said Vicki Mowat, NDP Shadow Minister for Health.
“The longer the Sask Party is in power, the further our friends and family will have to drive for basic healthcare.”
Among the most alarming consequences of these closures is the situation in Lloydminster, where emergency patients are being turned away due to a lack of access to CT scans.
In one tragic case, a man involved in a car accident was rerouted to North Battleford, only to find that the CT scanner there was also unavailable that day. He died before he could receive care.
In Wilkie, the emergency department at the Wilkie and District Health Centre has now been shuttered for over three years, leaving residents without access to urgent medical assistance. In Kerrobert, local ambulance services have become increasingly unreliable due to severe EMS staffing shortages. As a result, ambulances are being pulled in from Kindersley, Unity, and even Alberta, leading to dangerously long wait times for critical care.
Sask NDP has obtained a list of all recent service closures in west-central Saskatchewan through a freedom of information request, further underscoring the extent of the healthcare crisis. The party and local patient advocates are now calling out local Sask Party MLAs Kim Gartner, James Thorsteinson, and Colleen Young, accusing them of failing to deliver much-needed change and leaving their constituents without vital healthcare services.
“We’ve seen zero results from the local Sask Party MLAs. They’re putting party politics ahead of the people who elected them,” said Meara Conway, NDP Shadow Minister for Rural and Remote Health.
“Gartner, Thorsteinson, and Young need to stand up to Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill. Drive down the same roads your constituents take to North Battleford for care—and do your jobs.”
Kristine Weisbeck, a Lloydminster patient advocate and first responder, highlighted the struggles facing healthcare in her community, particularly the impact of staffing shortages that have left the CT scanner inoperable.
“Healthcare in Lloydminster is encountering considerable difficulties stemming from resource shortages across various sectors, most notably insufficient staffing that has led to the unavailability of the CT scanner, which the community contributed to by covering half of its cost,” Weisbeck said.
“My efforts to express my worries regarding these urgent issues to our local MLA, Colleen Young, have not been very fruitful, as I have only received a response indicating that she requires additional time to address them.”
As communities across west-central Saskatchewan continue to face mounting challenges in accessing essential healthcare services, pressure is growing on the Sask Party government to take immediate action to prevent further tragedies.
