SASKATOON – An internal memo, circulated by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) on Sep. 25, details widescale service cuts at Royal University Hospital (RUH). The memo, which was circulated among SHA management, indicates that services at RUH would be reduced due to a temporary increase in occupational therapy vacancies. To cover the staffing shortages, occupational therapists will focus on priority services. A temporary pause in service will impact several units at RUH. The Saskatchewan NDP called out the Sask. Party government for the service cuts. “This memo confirms what frontline workers have been telling us for months,” said NDP MLA Keith Jorgenson. “Our healthcare system is going in the wrong direction, and the Sask. Party can’t be trusted to fix it. “When healthcare workers are being shuffled around just to plug holes and services are being cut, the quality of patient care suffers. This government is driving healthcare workers out of the province and it’s hurting Saskatchewan people.” The memo follows an open letter, signed by 450 frontline healthcare workers, sent to Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill on Oct. 12 asking for action on emergency room overcrowding and emergency room staffing issues at RUH. The Saskatchewan NDP is asking that the Sask. Party government provide details about the service cuts highlighted in the memo, including how many occupational therapists have been re-assigned at RUH, how many vacancies exist and whether the redeployment practice is occurring at other hospitals in Saskatchewan.
