Rural communities in Sask. concerned about ability to maintain vital services

Saskatchewan rural communities are concerned about their ability to maintain vital services. The number of nurses working in rural areas has declined 21 per cent since 2018.

Delegates to the annual Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) convention say rural police detachments are also operating short staffed.

Retaining health care professionals in rural Saskatchewan has been an ongoing issue. The president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN), Tracy Zambory, says the government isn’t doing enough.

“When there’s no mid to late career nurses that are staying and what happens there is, we don’t have mentorship so we have young nurses who try to come and work in a rural area and they’re not supported,” she said.

New numbers from the Canadian Institute of Health Information show a significant decline in the number of nurses working in rural Saskatchewan since 2018. There are 1,760 nurses left, a loss of 474 or 21 per cent.

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“The mid to late career nurses have been affected by this government with the chaos and the lack of staffing that they’ve said we’re moving on from here,” Zambory said.

It’s not just nurses. Rural councillors attending the annual SARM convention in Regina are worried about personnel shortages at police detachments.

“In some cases we can’t actually get the officers. There are more officers going through depot right now. It’s starting to come back to more moderate levels I suppose but they need to stay in Saskatchewan,” explained Ray Orb, SARM’s president.

Lack of local services has forced more rural residents to travel to the city for appointments but getting there is more of a problem with most buses gone.

“After we lost, you know, the STC bus, it’s tough on seniors to try and get to Regina appointments. It really is,” Cupar Mayor Val Orb said.

Rural Saskatchewan is looking to the provincial government for help. They hope additional solutions will come in next week’s provincial budget.