The provincial government says the new Saskatchewan Health Authority won’t save any money this year.
According to the province, the severance packages for former health region executives have already cost about $4 million. There is an additional $15 million budgeted for other staff who haven’t been formally let go yet.
The severance packages are expected to surpass any savings achieved by merging the health regions.
“We knew in the first year there would be a significant amount of severance,” Health Minister Jim Reiter told reporters on Tuesday. “The budget amount that we set was about $19 million.”
The government says it hopes to see savings in the coming years.
Saskatchewan’s 12 health regions combined into one provincial health authority on Monday.
