Nurses, doctors leaving rural Saskatchewan: data

New data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows the number of registered nurses in rural and remote Saskatchewan communities has fallen by 21 per cent since 2018.

CIHI says that according to the most recent available data, there are currently 1,760 rural and remote registered nurses. That compares to 2,234 in 2018, when Scott Moe took office as premier, the Opposition NDP said on Tuesday. According to CIHI, the 21 per cent drop is the largest of provinces studied during that time frame.

Rural and remote Saskatchewan communities also have 12 fewer registered psychiatric nurses since 2018. Overall, the data show a 10 per cent drop in Saskatchewan, from 755 in 2018 to where now there are only 679, according to CIHI.

“Shockingly, we're seeing so many doctors and nurses leaving our province, and that is especially the case in rural Saskatchewan,” Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck said on Tuesday, flanked by health critic Vicki Mowat and rural and remote health critic Jared Clarke.

A government that listens to rural and remote front-line health-care workers, takes their ideas seriously and addresses their needs is what must happen in Saskatchewan to stop workers from leaving the province in such high numbers, Mowat said.

The current government's policies are driving them out, she added.

Beck said Saskatchewan is fortunate to have a great many rural communities that offer an abundance of opportunity.

But despite the opportunity, quality of life and potential that exists, a critical component of a good life is dwindling.

“The premier that broke our health-care system can't be trusted to fix it,” Mowat said.

Moe, she said, is not training up the local workforce, and not competing with other provinces to attract health-care workers. The culture of the government is a non-listening one, she said.

“That is driving more and more health-care workers out of the profession and out of our province.”

While highlighting the drop of 474 rural and remote nurses in Saskatchewan over the past five-plus years, Mowat also says the current government has not been performing when it comes to the recruitment and retention of doctors.

Mowat noted that Kelsey Trail Health Region, P.A. Parkland Health Region, and Sun Country Health Region have all seen a decrease in doctors since 2018. The province has lost 35 physicians of all types since 2018, she added.

The government, Clarke said, has closed emergency rooms and laboratories in at least 53 hospitals.

“There is no magic bullet that will fix all of the damage that the Sask. Party has done,” Clarke added. “Until Scott Moe takes the concerns of our health-care workforce seriously and changes the culture that's driving them out of this province, people will continue to leave.”

The government, he said, should agree to a nursing task force proposed by the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses. He also said it should listen to paramedics and update the province's Ambulance Act, improving working conditions for paramedics and keeping them in their roles.

The NDP is also calling on the government to implement a “grow-your-own” strategy for health-care workers in Saskatchewan.

“The people who grew up here are the most likely to stay here,” he added.