Sask Party rejects NDP’s request to expedite ‘ER Closure Right-to-Know’ amendment act

Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill said the government is already working on ensuring the public has accurate, reliable, and ‘as up to date as possible’ information about the health care services available for their community and centres nearby.

“More conversation needs to happen with the Ministry of Health and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA). We’ll continue doing what we’re doing in terms of advancing the process that we have for notifying patients of temporary disruptions, Mr. Speaker, and we’ll look forward to future debate on this bill,” said Cockrill.

Last November, the SHA implemented an updated emergency disruption process; all disruptions, regardless of their length, are posted publicly on the SHA website, with updates occurring daily at 4 p.m., seven days a week. Since changes can occur on short notice, not all disruptions may appear on the web page immediately. When that happens, signage is posted at the affected facility, and the information is reflected in the next daily update. Healthline 811 has real-time information regarding the availability of emergency services across the province. The SHA said it would be continuing system improvements with the goal of providing real-time, public updates.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority updates its service disruption page at 4 p.m. each day. (Image Credit: paNOW Staff)

Associate Shadow Health Minister Keith Jorgenson was in Prince Albert Monday to talk about the benefits of making Bill 606 law. He said it ought to be the least controversial piece of legislation that’s ever been passed in Saskatchewan.

“Because why on earth would a government not want people to know if a hospital is open and closed?”

Jorgenson added the SHA’s current website frequently misses hospitals that close after 5 p.m., so it still leaves a lot of people in the dark about their facilities.

“Imagine for a second you show up at a hospital, and they’re like, oh yeah, we’re actually closed, but we’ll tell you tomorrow that it was closed today. I mean, that’s not helpful.”

Jorgenson said the government maintains a real-time website that tracks disruption information, but access is restricted to SHA managers.

“I believe they do that because if the people saw the full extent of the number of hospitals that were closed, it would be embarrassing.”

He said prior to the SHA notifying the public about closures on their updated website, his own office tracked 800 disruptions and alterations in emergency services in an eight-month period across the province.

The Sask NDP said they’re asking the government to publish a website that tells people if a hospital is open or closed, tells people what services are available at that hospital, and lets people know whether or not there’s a virtual doctor or an actual doctor there.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

by paNOW Staff

Sask Party rejects NDP’s request to expedite ‘ER Closure Right-to-Know’ amendment act

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