Sask. breaks down its health care jumpstart plan, eyes return of organ donations

The Saskatchewan government is breaking down its plans to accelerate health-care services disrupted by the pandemic.

Hundreds of types of health services were slowed in recent months because many health-care workers had to be redeployed to intensive care units, acute care wards and contact tracing efforts during the fourth wave of COVID-19. 

Now, as the number of new daily COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan decreases — though the number of patients in ICU remains high — the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is preparing to send workers back to their old jobs, thus allowing some of those halted services to resume.

On Tuesday, the SHA outlined in detail what services will get a jolt in the days to come in the northern, Saskatoon, Regina and rural service areas. 

Read the full breakdown below.  

Saskatchewan's organ donation program — which has also been halted during the fourth wave — was not mentioned in that breakdown.

According to the most recent data available from the SHA, 51 people were on the kidney transplant wait list and two patients were waiting for a living donation organ as of Sept. 30. 

Derek Miller, the SHA's emergency operations head, said the organ donation program could resume in some form by the end of November, depending on how Saskatchewan's ICU figures pan out in the coming weeks. 

"It's definitely of high importance," Miller said. 

"My expectation is the SHA will have that up and running by the end of the month," Health Minister Paul Merriman said in the legislative assembly later on Tuesday.