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
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire' are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
‘We made them safer and more fun’: Here’s what’s new about e-scooters
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
Houston braces for flooding to worsen in wake of storms
High waters flooded neighborhoods around Houston on Saturday following heavy rains that have already resulted in crews rescuing hundreds of people from homes, rooftops and roads engulfed in murky water.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime reaches first Masters final in Madrid with another walkover
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
The UN warns Sudan's warring parties that Darfur risks starvation and death if aid isn't allowed in
The United Nations food agency warned Sudan's warring parties Friday that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don't allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.