Sask. budget sees $8.1B for health care, more urgent care centres planned

WATCH: As Sask. largest hospitals struggle with overcrowding, the budget promises to build relief with new infrastructure. Laura Woodward reports.

With emergency rooms in Saskatoon and Regina bursting at the seams – a bump in funding for health care came as no surprise in the provincial budget. The most expensive government service received has $15.7 billion over the past two budgets.

The success of Regina’s Urgent Care Centre has sparked plans to build similar facilities in other Saskatchewan cities.

“It’s already seen nearly 30,000 patients in the City of Regina, an area that’s made an impact on what the Pasqua and what the general see every day in terms of emergency visits,” Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said Wednesday.

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Among the $8.1 billion allotted to health care are promises to build urgent care centres in Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, North Battleford, and second centers in Regina and Saskatoon.

“Those are the kind of things that are going to make a difference in terms of how patients access the health care system and ensuring that it happens in a timely manner,” Cockrill added.

Other infrastructure projects include finishing construction on the new breast health center in Regina, upgrades at the Prince Albert and Weyburn hospitals and opening a long-term care facility in La Ronge by 2027.

However, the NDP has voiced its criticism of the staffing plan for the new infrastructure.

“Building the center without having the labor force in place and secured and Having a plan for that healthcare labor force sets that that that plan up for failure,” NDP MLA Trent Wotherspoon told reporters.

“Government has failed to emphasize the need for retention, so they have put some emphasis on trying to recruit, but they have no plan for how to keep the healthcare workers that we currently have,” NDP MLA Vicki Mowatt added.

It’s a message echoed by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) – which represents over 13,000 Saskatchewan healthcare workers.

“I’m disappointed. I was hoping to see more for retention of our workers,” Vice President of CUPE Local 5430 Linda Renkas told reporters.

Finance Minister Jim Reiter says changes in Saskatchewan’s population are exacerbating health care challenges – but maintained that the government is focused on staffing the sector.

“We’re in a situation right now. It’s just simple demographics. As baby boomers retire, the groups coming up to replace them aren’t as large,” he told reporters.

“It will be a challenge, but we want to provide those services to the people of Saskatchewan, and we’ve got a lot of very professional, very dedicated officials that are going to work very hard at that recruitment.”