Sask. to provide financial support to families with children travelling out of province for care
Sask. families who are required to travel outside of the province to access medical care for their children will receive financial support.
Health Minister Everett Hindley elaborated on the policy change while speaking with reporters on Wednesday.
“As a result of the meetings that we've had with families in consultation with health care providers, including the head of pediatrics here in Saskatchewan, we will be providing financial assistance for families that need to be referred out of province,” he said.
The financial supports will include up to $2,000 for families with children aged 16 and younger seeking out of province pediatric care.
“We're still working on the criteria itself and working closely with the health care teams,” he continued. “This is the first time that we've done this.”
The reimbursement will include expenses related to transportation and accommodations and will go into effect retroactive to April 1, 2024.
Hindley said that children will need a referral from a specialist and the treatment cannot be offered in Saskatchewan in order for families to be eligible for the supports.
The announcement comes after a long list of families have visited the legislature in the past several months – most notably to highlight the lack of pediatric gastroenterologists in Saskatchewan.
The Weber family was one such case.
The family highlighted the financial hardships they’ve endured while travelling to Toronto so that 16-year-old Zach Engen could receive treatment for his eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).
“This is one of the toughest years of our lives,” Zach’s mother, Alyssa Weber told reporters while visiting the legislature last month.
“We need help. We're trying to do it financially by ourselves, but we can't anymore.”
Hindley said the supports will help families deal with the pressures of seeking out of province care – while the government continues to fill vacancies at centres such as the Jim Pattison’s Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon.
“We're going to work very hard to make sure that that is fully staffed and we can provide as many services as we can close to home for kids in Saskatchewan,” he added. “Recognizing of course that there are some very highly complicated and complex procedures that won't be provided here.”
Pediatric referrals now join breast cancer testing as the two instances where the government will cover out of province travel expenses. It’s an acknowledgment that a shortage of specialists is creating a financial burden for some Saskatchewan residents.
- With files from Wayne Mantyka
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.