Sask. Opposition calls for 'windfall revenues' to be used to address family doctor shortages

The Saskatchewan Opposition is again asking the provincial government to use increased revenues to support family doctors.

For the second time in less than two months, Opposition Leader Carla Beck held a news conference calling for government spending on health care.

Beck was in Saskatoon on Wednesday morning, highlighting a need for family doctors in the city. As of Sept. 12, there were no family doctors in Saskatoon accepting new patients, according to a database operated by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

"We've now reached the point here in Saskatoon where there isn't a single family doctor taking new patients. Not a single one. And unfortunately this problem isn't isolated to our largest city, it's the exact same scenario playing out in communities across our province."

Earlier this month, a clinic in Warman temporarily closed its walk-in operations, citing physician shortages that its co-owner said led to longer wait times and verbal harassment of staff and doctors.

"Every person in this province should have access to a family doctor in their home community, and the premier should use our windfall revenues to ensure that," Beck said in Saskatoon on Wednesday.

Earlier this month Dr. James Stempien, the provincial head of emergency medicine, said there used to be a list of doctors taking new patients, but that doesn't exist anymore.

Opposition health critic Vicki Mowat said family doctors are the "backbone" of the health-care system. She said patients who should be seeing a family doctor are instead ending up in emergency rooms and further straining the system.

"We're calling on the government to immediately deploy windfall revenues to support family doctors and primary care clinics, and in the medium term we're calling on government to review the fee-for-service model that compensates doctors. It is clearly not working to support primary care needs in our communities," Mowat said.

Government points to action plan

The Opposition said there was a decline of 82 family doctors from 2018-19 to 2020-21.

The government provided a statement to CBC on Wednesday,

"In the past year, 107 doctors have been recruited to Saskatchewan from outside the province, including 51 family physicians. Compared to 2021, the province has seen a net increase of 78 licensed physicians year over year," it said.

In September, the provincial government announced a four-point action plan to recruit and retain 1,000 health-care workers with a commitment to spend $60 million.

The plan says the government will spend $3.5 million on physician and retention incentives, and focus on "targeting family physicians working in rural areas of the province."

The provincial government acknowledged the issues in Saskatoon and other communities. 

"While overall physician supply is increasing, we recognize the challenges faced by patients and communities, like Saskatoon, when temporary local vacancies or gaps occur," its statement said.

The government also pointed to its creation of an independent Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency. It said the search for a CEO for the organization is "underway."

The government said it will work with the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) "to ensure the best possible care is available to residents throughout the province and this includes discussions on physician compensation models."

It said negotiations between the SMA and the Ministry of Health are confidential.

The Opposition has proposed several ideas for how the provincial government could use increased revenues.

In May the NDP called for rebates, cancellation of the PST expansion, and a one per cent surcharge on resource revenues when oil and potash prices hit a certain threshold, with a portion of the profits from that going to rebate cheques for residents.

In August, the provincial government announced that higher commodity prices had turned a projected deficit into a $1-billion surplus. Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said the government would spend $450 million to send $500 cheques to Saskatchewan adults who had filed their income tax.

At the time, Harpauer ruled out spending the surplus on health care, saying year-to-year spending needs to be predictable and cannot rely on the volatility of markets 

"Each and every budget, we have increased health-care spending," Harpauer said. "But if we are using $450 million, say, just on the oil price, and then the oil price drops, where do we find that $450 million next year?"

Opposition asks for government to follow B.C.'s lead

In making her pitch to the government on Wednesday, Beck cited initiatives in other provinces, including the B.C. government's plan to give $118 million in interim funding to support family doctors in the province. 

"I think it's fair to say that our primary-care system, which developed over a long period of time — that model no longer meets the needs of patients, meets the needs of doctors," said B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix.

"So this is a demonstration, tangible action right now that brings immediate relief to family practices."

B.C.'s $118 million in funding is available to about 3,480 family doctors who have their own practices and 1,100 working in walk-in clinics. 

Physicians who earn salaries and don't pay any overhead would not qualify, Dix said.