REGINA -- Some health services are allowed to resume in parts of Saskatchewan, as part of the first phase of the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA) plan toward reopening the health system.
In a release, the SHA called its first phase of reopening a "cautious first step."
“It’s a delicate balance we begin today toward a ‘new normal’ while still responding to the realities of a global pandemic,” Scott Livingstone, the CEO of the SHA, said.
“Teams have and will continue to balance service resumption plans with the necessary health system capacity required for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients; including the need for ongoing expanded testing capacity, long term contact tracing demands and maintaining the ability for the foreseeable future to surge to meet the requirements when localized outbreaks happen.”
The first phase of the SHA’s reopen plan includes a focus on resuming some everyday services like outpatient physiotherapy appointments, kidney health services, some laboratory services, home care and expanding immunizations.
Not all of the services listed in phase one will begin right away on May 19. These services are subject to an approval process through the SHA.
The public should expect changes to the health care experience, including adaptation of waiting room practices, more emphasis on virtual care and additional screening at health care facilities.
Phase one will also include an expansion of surgeries beyond three week urgent and emergent cases, to now include six week urgent cases. Need for surgeries will be determined on a case by case basis, based on the urgency of the procedure.
“A patient’s priority on the surgery list will be determined based on a clinical assessment by their physicians, in consultation with the patient,” Dr. Rashaad Hansia, the SHA’s Physician Executive of Integrated Health Urban, said.
A full outline of what medical services are allowed to resume in Saskatchewan can be found on the province’s website.
