Governing parties often steal ideas from the opposition when they see how important the ideas have become.
One of the best ideas from the New Democratic Opposition in the last election was the establishment of regional health advisory boards.
The health care system in Saskatchewan was once divided into regions that had common geography and trading areas. Health boards were elected but little interest was shown in the elections even though the local Five Hills Health Region spent three times as much as the City of Moose Jaw.
The Saskatchewan Party abolished health region boards in favour of the monolithic Saskatchewan Health Authority.
The reason given for abolishing the boards was a saving of $17 million annually.
Given the current $4.68 billion Sask Health budget, that savings would run the system for one and a-half days — truly a drop in the bucket.
So what did taxpayers lose by this savings of $17 million? They lost local contact with health care operations and information communication.
Regional health boards met monthly in public meetings that were covered by some of the local media, thus letting the public know what the issues and successes in local health care were at that time.
The public could read when there were equipment needs, learn about local disease outbreaks, learn about the budget then nearly $90 million in this region and learn about new doctors and of shortages and issues of concern. The list goes on.
Once a month the health minister met with representatives from health regions to discuss issues and offer information on health care.
The health boards met with municipal councils to get a feel of what the public thought of local health care. If someone had an issue they could contact the board or a member.
That all ended when the Saskatchewan Party abolished the regional health boards in the name of saving money.
Now the public is kept in the dark about health care successes and concerns, except for occasional media reports.
Rumours like one that the local Fred Wigmore Hospital closed one of the four surgical suites because of a staff shortage would have been quickly extinguished by a local health region.
Now if someone wants information they must talk to a Sask. Health Authority representative who often knows very little about the issue and tries to put a positive spin on all matters.
A new set of health advisory boards would put the public back in touch with health care issues and reduce distrust of the system.
Over in Alberta, Premier Danielle Smith has recognized concerns when a massive monopolistic bureaucratic monster controls health care.
Smith is re-establishing health care connections with communities by creating regional health advisory boards.
Smith is also taking the wrecking ball to the huge unmanageable Alberta Health Services body by dividing it into four divisions — primary care, acute care, continuing care and mental health/addictions.
The new framework should make the system a bit easier to manage and understand.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe tends to copy ideas from Alberta. It would be wise for Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to copy this action to re-connect health care with the people in the regions.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
