Saskatchewan’s government says residents are to get status updates sooner about whether hospital emergency rooms are closed.
Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill told reporters Thursday that starting May 19, emergency service disruptions are to be posted online with daily updates at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Previously, updates were only provided daily at 4 p.m.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever achieve real-time (status updates), but the goal is to provide the most up-to-date information that we have available and feel comfortable providing patients,” Cockrill said.
Over the last six years, Saskatchewan has dealt with temporary ER closures in rural communities struggling to hire and retain staff.
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Residents have also complained of going to hospitals only to find a notice on the door saying it’s closed.
As of Thursday, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s website says emergency services in Wilkie, northwest of Saskatoon, are disrupted until further notice.
It says the ER in the town of Wolseley is closed after-hours, on weekends and on holidays. The ER in the town of Kamsack also has limited availability.
Jared Clarke, the Opposition NDP’s rural health critic, told reporters the change isn’t good enough and that the province should be providing real-time updates.
He cited a health authority document that says managers can access, at any time, a full list of service disruptions in the province.
“Why can’t they not just give that (information) to people of this province?” he said. “In an emergency, people need to know whether or not their emergency room is open or closed.”
Cockrill said providing immediate updates isn’t currently possible.
“We want to provide flexibility to our operational teams to be working hard right up to when that disruption may occur,” he said. “At the end of the day, we don’t want to have service disruptions in the province.”
He added residents can check an ER’s status on the health authority’s website or by calling 811.
Clarke introduced a private member’s bill to mandate the authority put publicly online any hospital closure within one hour. On Thursday, the legislature with its Saskatchewan Party government majority voted down the bill.
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