'Utilizing the tools available': Province's plan is to reduce surgical backlog by 240 patients
The province says they have a plan to reduce Saskatchewan’s surgery waitlist by 240 people.
Announced as part of the 2023 budget, the Ministry of Health will spend upwards of $6 million to send patients to private surgical clinics in Calgary for knee and hip replacements.
“It’s something we feel we need to do,” said Minister of Health Paul Merriman on Thursday.
“People have been on the surgery list for a long time. This is an option for them.”
Merriman said the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) would reach out to individuals awaiting those surgeries to give them the option to travel to Alberta.
However, anyone who opts into the process will have to pay for their own travel and accommodations.
“People are going to be able to essentially jump the queue,” said NDP health critic Vicki Mowat.
Mowat argued the decision would create a two-class system for those awaiting a surgery. Those who can pay to travel and those who cannot.
“It’s [the government’s] responsibility to perform these surgeries and to provide them publically,” she said. “People have to pay out of pocket. A basic tenant of Medicare is people who require that surgery should have the availability of it.”
In the province’s recent budget, the government outlined they want to complete an additional 6,000 surgeries this year. They were willing to use private clinics if needed to do so.
Merriman said the province’s surgery procedures were up 11 per cent in the past six months from where they were in 2019 during the same timeframe.
While the plan is to send people out of province for now, he added the work here at home won’t stop.
“We’re increasing capacity in Saskatchewan,” said Merriman. “We are using this temporary option to get to those specific surgeries. We have all of these tools available to us, so we’re utilizing them.”
“This is something [the government] saw coming,” said Mowat. “They should have taken the time to develop a strategy.”
The government said any necessary follow-up appointments will be covered by the province.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.