Sask. surgical wait times improve, but number of people on waitlist grows
The number of people in Saskatchewan waiting longer than two years for surgery has been "nearly eliminated," according to Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill, but the waitlist for surgeries has increased.
The province has been focusing on long-waiting patients, Cockrill said, with the number of people waiting over one year for surgery also down over 24 per cent.
The government released numbers for surgical wait times between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, on Wednesday. They showed that 92 per cent of people received surgery in under eight months during that period.
The target was 90 per cent, Cockrill said.
"We exceeded that goal."
Cockrill attributed the progress to recent spending on the health-care system. In March, Saskatchewan committed $15.1 million in its 2025-2026 budget to helping reduce wait times for patients.
The province has previously struggled with long surgical wait times, especially for knee and hip replacement surgeries. Saskatchewan had the longest wait times in Canada for those procedures in 2023.
Province performs record number of surgeries
The province said it performed more than 100,000 surgeries in a fiscal year for the first time, but a change in how they are counted contributed to that increase.
"This year's surgical reporting includes procedures performed outside of traditional operating rooms," Cockrill said, adding that procedures done in specialized treatment spaces like cardiac cath laboratories and interventional radiology suites are now counted as surgery, unlike in previous years.
The province made the change after the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), a national not-for-profit health organization, started counting those types of procedures as surgery, Cockrill said.
"Including these types of procedures in our count gives a more accurate picture of the full scope of surgical care provided across the province," he said.
In a statement Wednesday, the Opposition NDP highlighted the change in how procedures are counted.
"We're not surprised that the figures are inflated," the NDP statement said.
Total number of people on wait list higher than last year
The Opposition also pointed to the fact that the number of people waiting for surgery has increased in the province.
While surgical wait times in Saskatchewan are improving and the government is achieving its targets, 30,308 people are still waiting for surgery in the province as of March.
According to the government, Saskatchewan's wait list has increased by "about 2,236 cases since March 31, 2024."
"Today is about progress, but it's also about perspective. We continue in the surgical program to see the impacts of the pandemic slowdowns, which dramatically increased surgical wait times and wait lists," said Dr. Michael Kelly, the Saskatchewan Health Authority's provincial head of surgery.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
13 minutes ago
- CBC
Ontario, medical association near new compensation deal they say will help retain, recruit family doctors
Social Sharing The Ontario government and the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) say they're close to reaching a new compensation deal for doctors working in family health organizations, which is intended to draw more physicians to family medicine amid a provincial doctor shortage. Both parties say the proposed changes, which would impact roughly 6,500 family physicians, are intended to encourage more doctors to practice or remain in comprehensive family medicine. Negotiations are happening as more than two million Ontarians are without a family doctor. The new model, called FHO+, would allow doctors to bill for administrative tasks that are currently unpaid, on top of clinical tasks, according to the OMA. T he Ontario College of Family Physicians says in an average week, doctors spend about 19 hours on administrative tasks, such as filling out forms, charting and reviewing test results. An OMA spokesperson said in an email that the new compensation model "recognizes family physicians are treating patients with increasingly complex conditions, which often require physicians to spend more time completing administrative tasks." "We believe allowing family physicians to bill for this larger administrative workload will attract and retain more of them in Ontario," Julia Costanzo said in the emailed statement. "Our hope is that this new model will enable more Ontarians to [be] able access a family doctor." WATCH | Breaking down Ontario's family doctor shortage: 'Absolutely staggering': 2.5 million Ontarians without a family doctor 1 year ago The FHO+ model will also end "negation," the OMA statement said, the practice of financially penalizing a family doctor when a patient of theirs who is part of a family health team goes to a walk-in clinic or an emergency department for non-emergency care. The proposed deal would update the current compensation model, which pays doctors working in the province's 615 family health organizations through capitation. While different doctors are compensated in different ways, most family doctors get an annual payment from the government for every patient on their roster, with payments adjusted for factors like age and patient complexity. Bachir Tazkarji, a family physician and medical director of the teaching unit at Summerville Family Health Team, says he thinks the new deal would make comprehensive family medicine a bigger draw for new doctors. "Physicians are staying away from comprehensive family medicine practice, because they have less compensation, where, if they're working in hospitals or O.R., for example, they get compensated for more of this work," he said, adding that about 15 to 35 per cent of his week is spent doing administrative work. "I would think this [deal] is going to be very attractive and helpful to physicians for a better quality of life, reducing burnout and improving the patient's care, improving the direct contact with patients," he said. Health Minister Sylvia Jones told reporters at an unrelated news conference Wednesday that she would not comment on the details of negotiations with OMA, but that talks have been generally positive. The proposed deal was sent to arbitration in June, with a ruling expected in the fall. OMA CEO Kimberly Moran says the deal is about 90 per cent agreed upon and would be in place in April 2026 if finalized. She told CBC Radio's Here and Now Wednesday that while it's important doctors are compensated for "the really large and alarming amount of clinical administration time that they're spending," the province also needs to support physicians with teams and artificial intelligence tools that will reduce the work in the first place. "They didn't go to medical school [to be] on their computer. They went to medical school because they like to treat patients," she said. The Ford government has promised
CBC
13 minutes ago
- CBC
3 new measles cases reported in Manitoba
The Manitoba government says there were three new measles cases in the province last week. Two cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed and one was ruled probable last week, according to the province's Wednesday update. The data is up to Aug. 2. The number of cases reported by the province in 2025 to date has risen to 167 confirmed and 11 probable. Measles cases in Manitoba peaked last May, when the province reported 72 confirmed cases. The province saw the second-highest number of monthly cases in July, with 47 confirmed and three probable. There have been 4,394 measles cases reported so far this year in Canada, according to the federal government's latest update Tuesday. Most cases are in Ontario and Alberta.
CTV News
24 minutes ago
- CTV News
Low-income renters press governments for ways to cool apartments in heat waves
Sandra Walsh sits next to an open window in her kitchen as a fan circulates air throughout her rental apartment in New Glasgow, N.S. on Friday, August 1, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese) HALIFAX — Sandra Walsh was struggling to breathe in her apartment when temperatures across Nova Scotia soared in July, but the woman on social assistance says her pleas for a government-funded air conditioner have been ignored. 'With the high humidity, it effects my breathing and I have to gasp for air,' says the 46-year-old woman, recently diagnosed with a progressive lung disease. 'Even taking frequent, cold showers isn't really helping.' The resident of New Glasgow, N.S., is among many low-income Canadians with health conditions struggling to get government help to stay cool. She wants to buy a $300 air conditioner, but that would leave her with little money for food or medications. As of Wednesday, Walsh said it had been more than two months since she asked her income assistance caseworker for money to pay for an air conditioner. She said she has made the same request every summer since 2020, but has been refused. Similar struggles over what advocates call the 'right to cooling' are gaining attention across the country. Renters' groups argue AC units are sometimes required to prevent illness and death, and some experts are calling for wider solutions that could include public cooling centres. Last year, another resident of New Glasgow, Julie Leggett, won an appeal before an adjudicator who decided the province had to pay for air conditioner due to her chronic pain condition. But the ruling only applies to Leggett. Nova Scotia's Department of Social Development said in a recent statement its policy of refusing to cover the cost of air conditioners for low-income people with health conditions has not changed. 'In situations where health risks are worsened by extreme heat, caseworkers may refer individuals to local charities such as St. Vincent de Paul or churches,' a spokeswoman for the department said in an email. Meanwhile, the province says Efficiency Nova Scotia -- a non-profit energy conservation utility -- can help landlords purchase heat pumps for affordable housing. Leggett says these solutions aren't always available to people living in poverty. 'The province should not be trying to push its legal obligations onto non-profits that are already maxed out,' she wrote in an email. In Ottawa, where temperatures soared in mid-July, 75-year-old apartment dweller Marie Lourdes Garnier said provincial governments should be helping low-income renters purchase air conditioners. She said her apartment was stifling during a recent heat wave, adding that in recent weeks she's found herself growing faint despite continually splashing cold water on her head. A spokesperson for the Ontario government said people on income assistance can apply for an air conditioner when municipal or First Nations programs permit it. In addition, people with disabilities can apply through the Ontario Disabilities Support Program. And the City of Toronto recently started offering a pilot program for low-income seniors. Garnier, who lives on a small pension, isn't eligible for these programs because she is not receiving income assistance. 'It's very, very expensive for me ... (and) I'm not talking about (needing an AC unit) for comfort. It's a matter of life and death.' Last year, an advocacy group for low-income renters known as ACORN found that a 'negligible proportion' of its membership received public funds to buy an air conditioner or heat pump. A majority of the 737 people who responded to a survey reported poor sleep, fatigue and headaches from excessive indoor heat. In Moncton, N.B., Peter Jongeneelen -- vice chair of ACORN New Brunswick -- said that during a recent heat wave, he was admitted to an ER because he was suffering from heat exhaustion. He said people living on disability pensions need help, '(but) there's no real programs out there in New Brunswick. It's something we would like to change.' Meanwhile, the number of people showing up at emergency rooms with heat-related problems continues to rise. Last month, Health Canada reported this type of case rose from about 600 in 2004 to about 1,100 in 2023. In British Columbia, where a 'heat dome' in the summer of 2021 caused 600 deaths, the province committed $30 million in 2023 for a free air conditioner program run by BC Hydro. Since then, about 27,500 free AC units have been installed, the utility said. Still, University of British Columbia researcher Liv Yoon says the program has faced challenges. Some landlords, for example, have said their buildings simply can't support air conditioning. Yoon, co-author of a report titled 'A Right to Cool,' said there's a need for public cooling centres and access to free public transit to reach them. The report also calls for creation of affordable housing that includes passive shade systems to reduce indoor heat. Alex Boston, a B.C.-based urban planner and consultant, said air conditioners may be necessary for some low-income renters, but other solutions are often available. Indoor temperatures can be lowered by using window shades and fans, he said in an interview. Simple shading and air movement can decrease indoor temperatures by as much as 10 C, he said. In New Glasgow, Walsh said shades and fans might help. 'But a refusal (of assistance) would mean I would suffer and not be able to breath with the extreme heat, which can lead to death,' she said. By Michael Tutton This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2025.
