(File photo/CKOM)

By CKOM News/paNOW

HEALTH CARE

Moe signs order allowing SHA to redistribute healthcare workers due to COVID

Sep 13, 2021 | 5:26 PM

The provincial government has taken steps to ensure healthcare workers can be moved around to address COVID-19 concerns in Saskatchewan.

On Friday, Premier Scott Moe said the government would issue a new provincial emergency order Monday if the unions representing healthcare workers and the Saskatchewan Health Authority couldn’t reach an agreement on a deal “to provide greater flexibility in scheduling and placing health-care workers in areas experiencing surges in capacity pressures.”

That agreement wasn’t reached, so the government signed the emergency order. The provisions are to take effect immediately.

A previous letter of understanding that allowed the SHA to shuffle staff to help address COVID needs in certain areas expired earlier this year. With case numbers increasing in recent weeks, the Minister’s Order that Moe issued Monday reinstated the letter.

It covers workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Employees International Union-West, Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union and Saskatchewan Union of Nurses.

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“We are grateful for the efforts of all healthcare providers and their commitment to patients, residents and clients, especially during these unprecedented times. Their work is both valued and appreciated,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said in a media release.

“We appreciate the leadership of the SHA, affiliates, unions and all healthcare workers and know they are all committed to continue problem-solving and working together to meet the challenge of the pandemic.”

This news comes after the province reported its highest daily case count of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic at 449.

The number of COVID patients in Saskatchewan hospitals rose to 209 on Monday, the highest it has been since it was 214 on Feb. 8. Hospitalizations have nearly doubled since Aug. 30, when there were 111 people with COVID in the province’s healthcare facilities.

In response to the emergency order, Opposition Health Critic Vicki Mowat and Opposition Labour Critic, Carla Beck released a joint statement saying the government made this announcement because they didn’t take the steps necessary to get the fourth wave of COVID-19 under control.

“Scott Moe took his eye off the ball and took the summer off,” the statement reads. “He should have been working collaboratively with health care workers throughout the summer to ensure these necessary agreements were in place.

“Instead, we now have arrangements being imposed on workers, record numbers of new COVID-19 cases, and non-COVID patients being forced to go without needed treatments. All of this could have been prevented if Scott Moe had listened to the experts and focused on controlling the fourth wave.”