Health minister defends $6M deal to have surgeries performed in Calgary

Over the next year, several dozen people from Saskatchewan will be sent to Calgary for surgery, with a price tag of $6 million for the Saskatchewan government.

The deal was signed this week for 240 surgeries – 20 a month – for the coming year.

Critics are upset about the deal. SEIU-West, one of the province’s largest health-care unions, said that money should be invested in Saskatchewan instead.

But Saskatchewan’s health minister is defending the move, saying it’s something he feels the province needs to do.

“We need to be able to reduce our surgical backlog. We’ve had people that have been on the surgery list for a long time,” said Paul Merriman.

“(What) I’ve been asked by the people of Saskatchewan many times over is to get their surgeries done as fast as possible. This is an option that we’ve exercised as a temporary means to be able to reduce our surgical backlog.”

Merriman said the province is also working to increase surgical capacity within the province, and sending people out of the province is just a way to get more done.

The minister didn’t seem concerned about the overall cost, explaining that when a price is quoted for a surgery in Saskatchewan, it doesn’t include the overhead costs, while this bill does.

The province will pay for the actual surgery, but the patient will have to pay to get themselves to Calgary and for their accommodations. Merriman said that’s not something the province normally covers in these situations.

Critics are calling it queue-jumping, because it’s something that only those who can pay for that travel will be able to use, but Merriman disagreed.

“It’s not jumping the queue. It’s an option. It’s no different than, in some circumstances, if you had a surgery that was scheduled in Saskatoon and you had the option to go to Regina to get that surgery done,” said Merriman.

The minister said people offered the option won’t necessarily get their surgery immediately, and if they do get their surgery quicker than they would have, it may only be a matter of days.

Merriman said he has to be able to tell people that he did everything he could to get their surgeries done as quickly as possible.

“It’s my responsibility to put all options on the table,” he said.

The Saskatchewan NDP, however, thinks it is queue-jumping.

Vicki Mowat, the NDP’s health critic, said it goes against the core values of this province – that people who require health care or surgery shouldn’t have to leave the province or open their wallets for it.

“This government has a responsibility to provide that care. They have responsibility to the people of this province to not have to pay for it,” explained Mowat.