'It's time for action': Sask. EMS receives small portion of budget's healthcare increase
'It's time for action': Sask. EMS receives small portion of budget's healthcare increase
Saskatchewan’s 2023-24 budget highlighted healthcare as one of its main priorities, with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) getting a small cut of the new funding.
The budget allocates $8.8 million to enhance EMS in rural and remote areas, support contracted EMS operators and upgrade systems and radios.
The budget delivers total health spending of $7.1 billion. The Ministry of Health received an increase of $431 million this year, for a $6.9 billion budget.
“It’s a great budget for ground EMS. It doesn’t meet everything 100 per cent, but that can’t happen over night,” Steven Skoworodko, the president of the Paramedic Services Chiefs of Saskatchewan (PSCS), said.
“Where they’ve allocated the money to go to in this budget, it’ll really help support retention. Some of that money is targeted towards an increase in funding so rural services can pay more and fund those positions so that the paramedics do want to stay in rural Saskatchewan.”
The PSCS highlighted three areas it wanted to see targeted in this year’s budget: supporting paramedic recruitment and retention, more operational funding and improving patient offload delays.
Skoworodko said he feels those were all addressed, but would like to see more help with the increased costs of operating ambulances in the future.
“A new ambulance is about $250,000 with nothing in it. If we can continue some advocacy and maybe look for future budgets that there’s a removal of PST on a brand new ambulance, that’ll definitely help ambulance operations,” he said, adding increased fuel costs is another ongoing concern in operations.
The Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan (HSAS), the union representing some paramedics in Regina, said it’s not convinced the budget will help with widespread retention.
“It’s encouraging that healthcare has been made a priority by the government, but HSAS believes there needs to be a greater focus on EMS,” Karen Wasylenko, the president of HSAS, said.
“The $8.8 million is a very small percentage of the overall budget to improve a critical service within the healthcare system in this province.”
She said it’s unclear what the $8.8 million will do to get new people into jobs, or to keep the ones who are already working.
“While it sounds like a lot of money, across the province we have these gaps to fill and if we’re losing people, they have a lot of catching up to do,” she said.
“We need some real serious looking here and it’s time for action to get positions filled, in Regina as well as in rural and remote areas.”
In January, the provincial government announced 24.5 new full time equivalent paramedic jobs in Regina.
As of Friday, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) confirmed eight full-time positions have been filled. Six of those were previously internal casual positions. Four casual paramedic positions were added.
“Very shortly, ten more full-time positions will be posted with an estimated start date of June 15,” the SHA said in a statement.
The NDP said the budget allocation for EMS is a “drop in the bucket” for what’s needed.
“This doesn’t match the need that we’re hearing out there,” NDP MLA Vicki Mowat said.
“We hear from folks consistently that the supports are not there when they need them. I think that’s evidenced when we see people having to waiting hours for an ambulance to show up and hours at the emergency room to be offloaded by the ambulance.”
In addition to the new funding for EMS, the health minister said funding focused on other sections of the health care sector and across hospitals should alleviate some pressures felt by paramedics.
“We’ve had a 40 per cent reduction in our ER wait times with our ambulance crews. We need to improve on that, but we’re moving in the right direction,” Merriman said.
“It’s making sure that it’s efficient throughout our health care system, that people are getting discharged in time so we can create the space for people that are having an emergency situation.”
PLAN TO RECRUIT
The Minister of Health hopes new seats for paramedic training at Saskatchewan Polytechnic will help fill positions in the future.
“Those individuals take about a year to 18 months to be able to go through the system, so once those go through it’ll help out,” Merriman said Thursday.
“We’ve had very good success in recruiting paramedics. Not just in larger centres, but rural as well.”
The Paramedic Services Chiefs of Saskatchewan has also been involved in recruiting more emergency medical responders.
“It’s definitely a lower level but it’s a much shorter course. It’s only an 80 hour course. People are able to go through and write a licensing exam, then they’re licensed to do more basic driving and basic skills along with a primary care paramedic or an advanced care paramedic,” Skoworodko said.
“There’s a lot of opening positions across the province.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is pushing for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside' from his role examining the issue of foreign interference before he embarks on public hearings.
New Democrat MP Jenny Kwan said Monday that Canada's spy agency has confirmed her long-held belief she is being targeted by the Chinese government, as the prime minister granted the NDP's wish to allow more party members to review top-secret intelligence.
William Karlsson, William Carrier and Jonathan Marchessault are finally getting another chance in the Stanley Cup Final, after the first one that came so quick for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Eastern Conference finals Most Valuable Player Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, and Caleb Martin had 26 points and 10 rebounds to help the eighth-seeded Miami Heat beat the Celtics 103-84 in Game 7 on Monday night and advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons.
Canadian political leaders and parliamentarians are denouncing a new law passed in Uganda that imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty, for certain cases involving homosexuality.
There's a heightened risk of wildfires across the country during what has been one of the earliest fire seasons on record. From British Columbia to Nova Scotia, here's where the risk is highest.
New research from Penn State University found certain factors can contribute to reducing what’s known as the 'urban heat island' effect, and that climate knowledge can contribute to better city planning and design.
In a province where there are vast distances between cities and towns, one local group is hoping to get public support for an idea to bridge those gaps with a rail line.
A Winnipeg family is asking for help to find their missing teenage son whom they haven't seen since he left for school in the Fort Richmond area last Wednesday morning.
The body of a Winnipeg boy who fell into Sturgeon Falls on Saturday has been found following a desperate underwater search that lasted more than a day.
One long-time electoral tradition came to an end on election day, when Postmedia announced there would be no printed newspaper announcing the winner in Calgary.
Over 170,000 elementary and high school students weighed in on the Alberta election and the NDP had to hope the real voters were listening, because they won the kids' vote.
The Sandy Hill Child Care Centre has an extra two weeks to get its new home up to code months after a fire destroyed its original site on Wilbrod Street.
Ottawa police are praising a local dad for quickly calling for help Sunday afternoon when he accidentally locked his keys in his car, and his infant child along with them.
Ontario Provincial Police say a driver from Augusta Township is facing an impaired driving charge after someone on Highway 416 spotted a vehicle moving erratically.
On Monday, Fraser Health provided two senior leaders to address the latest letter outlining risks to patients, allegations of muzzling, and pleas for help from emergency physicians in the health authority's hospitals.
The president of the BC Trucking Association is issuing renewed calls for safety after a trailer truck smashed into an overhead pass Monday morning in Langley.
The union representing the majority of Quebec's daycare workers is criticizing the government's decision to launch a skimpy 90-hour training program for people who want to be daycare workers but have no prior experience.
A Quebec driver who caused the death of another motorist when he swerved his truck to avoid hitting a family of ducks on the road has been sentenced to eight months in jail and a three-year driving ban.
Capital Bike is encouraging Greater Victoria residents to choose cycling as a way to get around the region during "Go By Bike Week," which runs from May 29 to June 4.
The body of a Winnipeg boy who fell into Sturgeon Falls on Saturday has been found following a desperate underwater search that lasted more than a day.
The rural Oxford County intersection where an OPP officer and a school bus driver were killed Monday was less than a month away from becoming a four-way stop when the deadly crash happened.
It was a night of indecision at Waterloo region's catholic school board as trustees went back and forth trying to find the best approach to fill a vacant seat.
