Record-high $6.8B for health care in Sask. 2022-23 budget

The Saskatchewan government's 2022-23 budget includes a record-high $6.8 billion for health care to cut down the surgical wait-list, hire and retain health-care workers, and fund additional ICU beds. 

Health care is the largest line item in the budget, making up nearly 40 per cent of total government expenditure, and is up $288.2 million from last year.

An increase of $21.6 million will fund thousands of additional surgeries in 2022-23, according to the province. The government is aiming to return surgical wait times to "pre-COVID levels" by the end of March 2025.

There is a backlog of about 35,000 surgeries that built up during the pandemic, according to Health Minister Paul Merriman.

He said the government wants to maximize all available facilities for surgery.

"What we want is all of our health-care system operating at, or full to capacity, as often as we can. We want to make sure that there's not empty surgery rooms in Yorkton while Saskatoon has a backlog, just for an example," he said.

Minister of Finance Donna Harpauer acknowledged capacity is a barrier to slashing the backlog faster. 

"It takes a lot of trained health-care professionals. And so we also need to build the health-care professionals as well that can address that," Harpauer said on Wednesday. 

The Saskatchewan Health Authority's budget has increased by seven per cent to a total of $4.2 billion.

The government is also spending $95 million to "sustain the ongoing pandemic response and continue protecting Saskatchewan people in the transition to living with COVID-19." This money will go toward personal protective equipment, support for 58 acute care beds in Regina and Saskatoon, and operating costs.

Bashir Jalloh, president of CUPE Local 5430, which represents about 14,000 health-care workers in the province, said investments in postoperative care and home care services are missing from the government's surgical plan.

"We cannot just talk about surgeries, doctors doing surgeries. There's a lot more than that," he said. 

'New and independent agency' to recruit and retain health-care workers

The government said it is creating a "new and independent agency" that will work to recruit and retain health-care workers.

There is $3.5 million in the budget for physician recruitment and retention initiatives, particularly targeting family doctors working in rural areas of the province.

There were 235 family doctors practising in rural areas at the end of last March, a decrease of eight physicians, or 3.3 per cent, from the previous year, according to data from Saskatchewan's Medical Services Branch.

There were 454 family doctors practising in Regina and Saskatoon during the same period — a decrease of 43 physicians, or 8.7 per cent, from the previous year.

Jalloh said recruitment and retention are the biggest problems facing the health-care system, a sentiment also echoed by other major unions. 

The government is also increasing spending by $1.5 million to bring 150 health-care workers from the Philippines to Saskatchewan. The goal is to recruit 300 workers over the next two years.

Tracy Zambory, president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN), said in order to retain nurses, they need to be given adequate practise time and support from registered nurse managers.

She said some nurses in remote and rural areas have found themselves in overwhelming situations.

"They were finding themselves in charge of very busy small emergency rooms and inpatients. And they were scared to death because they did not feel that they had the experience to be the person in charge of very complicated care that was walking in the door 24 hours a day," she said. 

Barbara Cape, president of SEIU-West, said the government should also be working on recruiting from Indigenous communities by doing things like making partnership agreements with First Nations in Saskatchewan that would co-sponsor education seats and opportunities for skill development.

"We have a ready and willing workforce here that is made in Saskatchewan. And I think that those conversations are long overdue with the leadership of First Nations all across the province," Cape told CBC News.

"They have incredible opportunities to invest and build our health-care system. So why aren't we tapping into their expertise?"

Additional ICU beds

The province is spending $12.5 million to add 11 new intensive care unit beds across Saskatchewan. The government says the goal is to add 31 beds by 2024-25, bringing the total to 110, up from the current 79.

An increase of $3 million will fund 10 new high acuity beds at Regina General Hospital to care for patients with more complex medical needs than a traditional inpatient bed, according to the province.

The government is also increasing spending by $10.8 million for new paramedic positions to improve emergency medical services in rural and remote areas.  

A $17-million increase in the budget is to support seniors, which includes $4.8 million for home care services and $6.5 million for an additional 117 continuing care aide positions.

The government is also increasing spending by $4.9 million for CT and MRI scans to bring down wait times for these services.

Mental health and addictions spending is increasing by $8 million and accounts for seven per cent of the overall health budget.

NDP says health-care spending inadequate 

Opposition NDP Leader Ryan Meili says the health-care spending is not enough to address issues in the health system.

"When we look at health care, after two years of closed facilities, patients going without needed care and health-care workers burning out, this health care budget goes nowhere near the generational investment that's required to get things back in order," Meili said on Wednesday.

"Instead, we see a recycled announcement on surgeries that will go nowhere near what we need to address the huge backlog."

More budget-related stories: