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By Derek Craddock

FOURTH WAVE

‘Breaking point’: CMA wants strict health measures to save Saskatchewan’s healthcare system

Sep 29, 2021 | 12:43 PM

The head of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) said the healthcare systems in Saskatchewan and Alberta are at a breaking point and more needs to be done immediately.

In a release sent Wednesday, president of the CMA, Dr. Katherine Smart said patients and health workers are experiencing unfathomable choices and consequences. She added that early relaxation of public health measures has left the two provinces with crumbling healthcare systems in their wake.

“What is happening is as heartbreaking as it was preventable. We are now in a situation where it’s all hands on deck to address the state of crisis,” the release states. “Because at the end of the day, it’s the people of Alberta and Saskatchewan – patients, families, communities and health workers – who are impacted by this.”

That urgent cry is also being echoed by the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) and the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses.

Those organizations are calling for some health measures to be reintroduced, including limits on indoor gatherings, community-level public reporting that shows what percentage of the population is partially and fully vaccinated by age groups, as well as case counts, hospitalizations and ICU admissions.

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The groups are also calling for sufficient contact tracing with appropriately trained staff and for COVID-19 projection models to be made public.

SMA president Dr. Eben Strydom said reinstating gathering limits on indoor private functions and community events will help to mitigate the fourth wave of the pandemic.

“Mask mandates and vaccination requirements are essential but are not enough against the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant. With the approach of colder weather, gatherings will move indoors, creating the potential for surges in cases.”

“Without indoor gathering limits, COVID-19 will spread, and people will die,” added SUN president Tracy Zambory. “Registered nurses are disheartened to see preventable hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19. They are upset. They are weary.”

The CMA however is calling for a harsher approach to the issue. Smart said she wants to see public health measures such as firebreakers or circuit breaker lockdowns to aggressively control COVID-19 cases. Smart also wants to see mandatory vaccination in health care settings and more support for patients to safely be transported to other jurisdictions that have ICU capacity.

“Any and all measures available must be applied to curb the rate of mortality, support workers, and start addressing the consequences of patients’ whose care is now on hold indefinitely,” said Smart. “This is a time for courageous action, and for politics to step out of the way of needed collaboration.”

Saskatchewan’s vaccine passport system comes into effect on Oct. 1 while masks in indoor public spaces were made mandatory on Sept. 17.

The province’s Health Minister Paul Merriman, along with Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Saqib Shahab and Derek Miller with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) will provide a COVID-19 update at 2:00 Wednesday afternoon.

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Derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @PA_Craddock