SHA memo says city is short on ER doctors
An internal memo from the Saskatchewan Health Authority suggests that Regina emergency rooms are understaffed compared to Saskatoon, with fewer doctors than the relative size of the cities should dictate.
But the government produced data showing the divergence is far less when pediatricians are excluded.
The Saskatchewan NDP obtained the memo, which dates from late July, through a freedom of information request. They used it to press the health minister to add more physician positions in Regina.
The memo pointed to past reports that wait times to see a physician in Regina emergency rooms stood at 5.3 hours, nearly twice as long as in Saskatoon. NDP Leader Ryan Meili said it’s no wonder. He argued that Regina is being “neglected” and starved for funds.
The memo said Regina emergency rooms have “historically been underfunded” with regard to emergency doctor staffing. Saskatoon was funded for 43 full-time equivalent positions as of July, while Regina was funded for just 31.3.
The memo argued that the formula used to calculate how many doctors work in Regina emergency rooms is not adequate. But Regina’s numbers come up short even compared to that formula, by 1.6 full-time equivalent positions.
Those numbers mean there were about 37 per cent more doctors funded in Saskatoon, compared to Regina. That’s more than the population difference between the two cities, even including the surrounding metropolitan area, which would give a difference of about 24 per cent as of the 2016 census.
The memo’s authors, including the area chief of staff for Regina, say equitable staffing is the “most significant variable” toward bringing down long stays in Regina. They call for a minimum of 37 positions, or almost six more doctors.
Health Minister Jim Reiter noted that three additional doctors were hired around the time of the memo, a figure the memo also noted and included in calculating the 31.3 number.
“It’s probably a fair explanation at that point in time, but a lot has changed since then,” he said.
The government later confirmed the 31.3 number is current, but noted that Saskatoon’s total for adults is 35.5. The remaining doctors referred to in the memo are pediatricians.
That would give a difference of just 13 per cent.
Reiter argued that there was never any intent to neglect Regina and favour Saskatoon in emergency room staffing decisions. He said the gap is probably a holdover from the times of separate health regions.
“This probably speaks to just one more reason why it was important we have one Saskatchewan Health Authority so we can get some consistency across the province,” Reiter said.
Meili acknowledged that Saskatoon is the major teaching centre for doctors in Saskatchewan, but he insisted that there simply aren’t enough physicians in Regina emergency rooms.
The NDP also shared information on the number of specialists in Regina and Saskatoon, showing the Queen City fell far short on anesthesiologists, internal medicine, psychiatry and some other domains.
Meili blamed those shortages, in part, for increasing emergency room usage.
“There’s a whole lot plugging up the system that’s showing up in our emergency rooms,” he said. “And the failure to fix that is because there’s been a failure to acknowledge the level of the crisis and invest appropriately.”
During question period, Reiter acknowledged that staffing and wait times are a “very serious issue.” He committed to listening to officials in his ministry and in the SHA, saying he will trust their judgment about how resources should be allocated.
He also mocked Meili for constantly dredging up SHA memos that, according to the minister, aren’t even secret.
“He has a new smoking gun with a memo that was leaked to him,” Reiter said.
“They’re not confidential; we’ll cc him on them from now on.”