SHA preparations about to face moment of truth
Top officials say single agency for province allows quicker responses
The arrival of COVID-19 marks the first pandemic to face the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Officials say challenges like this — a public-health issue that requires a broad, co-ordinated response — is one of the reasons the SHA was formed.
Saskatchewan reported its first presumptive case of COVID -19 on Thursday: a 60-something person in Saskatoon who had recently travelled to Egypt. The SHA said the case is contained and the overall risk of becoming infected with the virus remains low, but officials are readying for the possibility of an outbreak.
Concerns about the virus have prompted the cancellation of several events in the province, including this year’s Juno Awards, which were scheduled to take place in Saskatoon this weekend, and numerous sporting events.
Health officials said having a single health authority gives them an edge in provincewide planning compared with the former 12 health regions, which amalgamated to form the SHA in 2017.
“I think this is one of the benefits of having a single health organization,” acute care executive director John Ash said at a news conference in Regina on Wednesday. “We’ve engaged the organization as a whole and established operation plans down to the area and local level.”
The SHA projected that fully amalgamating systems would take three to five years. In a December 2019 interview, CEO Scott Livingstone acknowledged that parts of the province are still working in “silos.”
A recent report on the province’s emergency rooms found many in major cities were over capacity, raising concerns from the NDP about whether they would be prepared for an influx of cases.
A report from the SHA also found emergency rooms in major cities were being filled with patients coming from rural areas, even when those areas had adequate health-care facilities.
Livingstone also said amalgamation means the province can now prioritize resources and respond more quickly to major events or disasters, such as mass-fatality events or disease outbreaks.
One example of that is ordering supplies. As early as February, the SHA began stockpiling extra personal protective equipment such as masks, ventilators for clearing air from the rooms of potential patients, and testing kits. Ash said the process was easier because the single authority has more purchasing power than 12 health regions and can distribute supplies to where they are needed most.
In the past week the SHA has activated an emergency operations centre and had an emergency planning meeting. The authority’s emergency preparedness plan says it and the Ministry of Health are liaising regularly with unions, physician groups and medical partners, including affiliated care homes.
At present, the province’s emergency preparedness plan is to “detect cases as early as possible and delay spread as long as possible,” according to the SHA.
That plan is a framework. Health Minister Jim Reiter said Thursday that different “components” of the plan will be added in coming days.
Provincial medical health officer Saqib Shahab urged the public to take measures to prevent rapid spreading of the virus. This involves people self-isolating if they have symptoms, avoiding travel to affected areas and practising good handwashing hygiene. Shahab said these measures could “flatten the curve” of incoming cases so that a spike in infections doesn’t overwhelm the province’s health systems.
If that fails, he said additional acute care beds can be added to help manage a surge, though he could not immediately say how many.
“Our first aim is to contain, which is what we’re doing now,” Shahab said at a news conference on Thursday. “We want to remain in containment for as long as we can. How long we remain there will depend on all of us doing the right thing.”