Sask plans to expand use of private clinics

REGINA – Premier Scott Moe (pictured) has unveiled his government’s new blueprint for healthcare, which he says is focused on improving access across the province. The 25-page plan, titled Patients First Healthcare Plan, lays out more than 50 actions the government will take to ensure Saskatchewan residents are “receiving the right care in the right place at the right time,” Moe said.

Moe said the plan announced on Monday targets the following goals for 2028:

• Every person in Saskatchewan having access to a primary care provider.
• 90 percent of patients receiving diagnostic scans within 60 days of being referred.
• 90 percent of patients having a three-month wait time for surgeries.
• Completing 450,000 surgeries over the course of four years.

To meet those surgical targets, the province will use more private surgery clinics to perform procedures that are publicly funded, said Moe.

Currently, private providers do surgeries on joints, eyes and the vascular system.

To shorten diagnostic turnaround times, the plan said Saskatchewan will modernize laboratories and expand the capacity of scanners, including by adding an MRI machine in Estevan.

The province also said it will build more urgent care centres in Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw and North Battleford to lessen the strain on hospitals.

Cockrill announced 36 new acute care beds will open at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon later this year.

The Saskatoon Health Authority will also expand the neo-natal ICU at the Regina General Hospital by three beds, Cockrill said.

Speaking at the under-construction Urgent Care Centre in Saskatoon, Moe repeatedly highlighted his government’s commitment, made in the 2025 Throne Speech, to have every resident attached to a primary healthcare provider.

It was a commitment echoed by health minister Jeremy Cockrill during his comments.

“That’s why as part of this plan, we are taking an all-in approach on the role of nurse practitioners in this province as a central part of improving that access to primary care,” said Cockrill.

Cockrill said there will be “no limit” on expanding nurse practitioner contracts to deliver care.

The province will also test team-based models led by nurse practitioners.

Cockrill highlighted how even the premier sees a nurse practitioner as his primary-care provider.

The province is expanding its training capacity, with the addition of 26 new nurse practitioner seats across the province, Cockrill said.

That will mean 13 new seats offered through the University of Saskatchewan and 13 new seats offered through the University of Regina, helping to increase the province’s nurse practitioner training capacity by 45 per cent, Cockrill said.

Cockrill said the province will be introducing a $78,000 financial incentive, over a two-year period, with a return of service contract to attract registered nurses to become nurse practitioners.

Linking patients to primary care will also be achieved through the expansion of access to virtual care to all residents in the province, Cockrill said.