The recent implementation of the Saskatchewan Health Authority鈥檚 COVID-19 plan has not been well-received by the 12 rural communities, whose emergency rooms have been closed.
The conversion of these rural centres to 鈥淎LC鈥� or alternate level of care sites has brought these communities together in an effort to reverse these changes and show the Ministry of Health and the SHA that the health and well-being of these residents are in jeopardy.聽
The 12 locations which the SHA identified in their surge plan for temporary suspensions of emergency services and conversion to ALC are Leader, Kerrobert, Biggar, Herbert, Davidson, Lanigan, Preeceville, Wolseley, Broadview, Arcola, Radville and Oxbow.
Most of these communities have been in a fight with their local health region (and now the health authority) over their ER, doctor recruitment and retention, nursing staff shortages and emergency room bypasses for years.
Communities are noticing the commonalities in their hospital situations and don鈥檛 want budget cuts. Real people live near these facilities and depend on them in the worst of circumstances.
Communities were not consulted in any way regarding these closures. This surge plan was released and simply stated that these facilities could be converted to ALC with ER closures if there was a surge to warrant it.
None of these communities took action, because they either didn鈥檛 see the need at the time due to low COVID-19 case numbers, or simply because they missed the news article or didn鈥檛 comb through the pages of the SHA website. No formal bulletins were sent to these communities in advance to prepare residents and community members. No special news releases were published on the SHA website or their Facebook page. Most communities received 18-24-hour warnings that their ER would close indefinitely at 8 a.m. the following day.
Rather than 12 small communities all fighting the same battle, we are becoming a large group with one common goal: to re-open our emergency rooms and ensure the health and safety of our communities.
We all know the threat of this pandemic is real and we all want to do our part in the fight against COVID-19, but not at the expense of our residents. 聽聽
We鈥檝e come to the time when the government is opening up the province. Why are they closing hospitals in the process?
