Partial costs of Sask. COVID-19 hospital treatments, airlifts add up to more than $100M
The Government of Saskatchewan has been billed for some of the costs associated with COVID-19 patient transfers to Ontario hospitals.
So far, ICU patient transfers to Ontario have cost the Government of Saskatchewan $787,532, not including the cost of their hospital stay or flight home.
This fall, 27 acutely ill residents were transferred to Ontario intensive care units to relieve pressure on Saskatchewan’s hospitals.
According to data from the government, 25 patients were airlifted to Ontario at a cost of $25,800 per patient. The total cost for flying the patients to Ontario is $645,000. Costs have not yet been determined for flying the patients back to Saskatchewan.
The cost of the ICU treatment for the patients is also yet to be determined. According to the Minister of Health, the province won’t be billed until all Saskatchewan patients have been repatriated. Four Saskatchewan residents are still being treated out-of-province.
Travel, meals and accommodations for 19 family members of ICU patients transferred to Ontario were quoted at $7,502 per person for a total of $142,532.
The opposition NDP thinks the cost could have been avoided had the government implemented COVID-19 restrictions sooner.
“The government saw the fourth wave coming, ignored the signs, ignored the advice of Dr. Shahab in August and there are the sad results," Vicki Mowat, an NDP MLA, said.
The province said every jurisdiction has had to face the financial impact of the pandemic.
“The fourth wave it has been difficult and challenging for Saskatchewan. We had to move a few patients out of province into Ontario. Earlier in the pandemic we took a number of patients from the province of Manitoba," Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said.
SASK. COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATIONS
The province has also reported more details about the cost of treating COVID-19 patients in local hospitals. To date, the province has spent $100,020,561 on local hospital and ICU admission for COVID-19 patients.
Inpatient hospital admissions reportedly cost the province a total of $39,953,172, which breaks down to 2,814 patients at $14,198 each.
Intensive care treatment in Saskatchewan has cost $60,067,389 to date, for 863 patients at $69,603 per patient.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.