Sask. health ministers grilled by doctors worried about state of health care in the province - Action News
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Saskatchewan

Sask. health ministers grilled by doctors worried about state of health care in the province

Health Minister Paul Merriman and Everett Hindley, minister of mental health and addictions, seniors, and rural and remote health, faced tough questioning during the Saskatchewan Medical Association's annual assembly in Regina.

Saskatchewan Medical Association holds 1st in-person assembly in 3 years

Saskatchewan health minister Paul Merriman speaks at the 2022 assembly of the Saskatchewan Medical Association.
Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman addresses doctors in Regina on Friday during the annual meeting of the Saskatchewan Medical Association. (Alexander Quon/CBC)

As complaints about shortages in Saskatchewan's medical sector continue, doctors had the rare opportunity to put officials in charge of the province's health policy on the hot seat.

TheSaskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) held its annual assembly at the Delta Hotel in Regina on Friday, and for the first time in three years the event was held in-person, allowingdoctors from across the province to ask questions of Health Minister Paul Merriman and Everett Hindley, the minister ofof mental health and addictions, seniors, and rural and remote health.

"I think it's always better to have the opportunity to discuss these critical issues in person rather than by telephone or or Webex," said SMA president Dr. John Gjevre.

Many of the questions focused on how the province was working create a more stable medical field in Saskatchewan.

The shortage of workers in the medical field are well known. The shortages have been reported in the province's emergency departments, lab services,obstetrics, family medicine andnursing units,and are not limited to a rural or urban locations.

As a result, doctors wanted to know how the province plansto alleviate the shortage of doctors and health-care workers.

"There are significant challenges across the country, it's not just a Saskatchewan problem,"Gjevre said. "We need to revitalize and, frankly, transform how we approach familymedicine and primary care."

Merriman and Hindley continually emphasized that the health-care system has problems.

Speaking to media after the doctors question period, Merriman pointed to the plan the provinceunveiled last month as the solution.

File - A sign featuring the logo of the The Saskatchewan medical Association (SMA) hangs on a podium.
The Saskatchewan medical Association is a voluntary professional association that has more than 90 per cent of the province's physicians as members. (Alexander Quon/CBC)

The $60-million initiative aims to bring about a thousand more physicians, nurses and other health-care support staff to fill vacancies across the province.

Doctors are especially important, Merriman said, touting the "second-best compensation package for physicians in the country" that he believes will help lure candidates.

"I don't have a specificnumber," Merriman told reporters. "I would I guess I would put it this way: If there's a doctor out there that wants to be in Saskatchewan, we'll hire you."

Merrimansays the province has been able to recruit 107 doctors in the last 12 months, which works out to a net increase of 40 doctors over that time period.

Fifty-one of them are general practitioners, he added.

But critics, including some of the doctors at the SMA convention, have pointed out that plan is not meant to address immediate shortages.

CBC attempted toask Everett Hindley, the minister of rural health, about the staffing challenges in Saskatchewan. However, he left the building as other interviews were still underway.

Paul Merriman, Saskatchewan's minister of health, sits with Everett Hindley, Saskatchewan's minister of mental health and addictions, seniors and rural and remote health, at the Saskatchewan Medical Association's 2022 assembly in Regina, Sask.
Paul Merriman, Saskatchewan's minister of health, sits with Everett Hindley, provincial minister of mental health and addictions, seniors and rural and remote health, during Friday's meeting. (Alexander Quon/CBC)

In his answers to doctors' questions,Merriman continually admitted there will continue to be short-term pain as they work toward finding solutions.

Merriman thanked the many doctors at the conference who provided him with suggestions on how to address issues in the province.

"We're going to work with them because they have a very good working knowledge of the system and how we can make things improve for the patient," he said.