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Saskatoon City Hospital’s emergency department will close at 3 p.m. on Sunday due to “unforeseen physician unavailability,” the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) said.
The SHA sent a news release to 650 CKOM News just two hours before the closing time, saying anyone needing emergency department services after outside these hours should go to Royal University Hospital or St. Paul’s Hospital emergency departments, which are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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The SHA said people with non-emergency medical concerns can call HealthLine 811 or visit a walk-in clinic.
Prior to February, the ER was open from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. but since then its hours have been reduced a number of times by the health authority.
On Feb 14, the SHA said the ER hours would be reduced to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Feb. 15 to Feb. 23, “based on physician availability” and then said on Feb. 21 the hours were extended until March 2 for the same reason
In March, the SHA reduced the ER opening hours to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until March 9, and then extended that to until March 16 before again extending the early closure until June 27.
On June 28, the health authority increased the ER hours of operation to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from June 29.
At that time, the SHA said it “has made progress” in stabilizing its physician staffing and is taking a phased approach in resuming full operational hours. It said that work is “continuing” on the planned addition of 109 acute care beds at City hospital.
In March, the Government of Saskatchewan announced it was giving the hospital $15 million in 2025 to purchase 109 acute care beds, upgrade equipment and expand acute care services.
Part of the money will also go towards recruiting an additional 500 staff and physicians to help care for the added capacity.
“We’ve committed to add 22 acute rehabilitation beds, 12 acquired brain injury beds, 60 general medicine beds and 15 high acuity beds,” said Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Andrew Will in a press conference at the time.
Will said the goal of the new beds was to help make it easier for patients waiting in the emergency department at the hospital to move into acute care, which has been a problem in the past.
“On average, we have 55 patients waiting in emergency departments for acute care beds. By adding these 109 beds, we directly reduce the number of patients waiting in emergency departments for admission to acute care, helping to alleviate pressure on emergency care services and improving timely access to care,” Will said.
“This means that patients will receive acute care in the right place — in an acute care bed — instead of waiting in the emergency department for admission to acute care. This creates a better experience for patients,” Will added.
In October, the SHA once again said it was “committed to providing high-quality health services for the people of Saskatchewan” and was “moving forward with a significant expansion of acute care capacity at Saskatoon City Hospital.”
Later that month about 450 health-care workers signed a letter asking the provincial government to address the worsening conditions in emergency departments.
The letter, written to Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill, outlined the “critical and escalating issues impacting emergency care” across Saskatchewan.
— with files from 650 CKOM
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