Sask. Health Authority directed to report ER service disruptions more frequently

The Government of Saskatchewan says it is taking steps to ensure residents will be made aware of service disruptions at their local emergency rooms as quickly as possible, while also working to reduce the frequency of health-care disruptions across the province.

On Thursday, the government said the Saskatchewan Health Authority has been directed to increase the frequency with which it reports service disruptions on its website from once a day to twice daily, or as soon as practically possible.

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“All emergency service disruptions, regardless of their length, are now posted publicly on the SHA website, with updates occurring daily at 4:00 p.m.,” the province noted in a statement.

“As of May 19, 2026, the frequency of updates to the website will double, occurring twice a day at 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.”

Jeremy Cockrill, Saskatchewan’s health minister, said the provincial government’s focus is to reduce the number of service disruptions in order to ensure residents can receive timely care as close to home as possible.

“I think, eventually, we will get closer to real-time information, but at this point, this is what’s workable with the Saskatchewan Health Authority,” Cockrill said.

Cockrill said the government’s ultimate goal is to get rid of service disruptions altogether, and it’s been working toward that by hiring more health-care workers around the province.

Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill says the Saskatchewan Health Authority will start reporting service disruptions on its website at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day, doubling the current reporting frequency. April 30, 2026. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

The province said Saskatchewan has “seen a downward trend in the number of temporary emergency room disruptions over the past three years,” and said measures it has implemented, including the virtual physician program and the health human resources action plan, “have helped prevent more than 6,000 potential emergency room disruptions in more than 28 communities around the province since 2023.”

In addition to the online reporting, the government said signage is posted at affected facilities during an emergency room disruption, and information on service availability can also be accessed through Saskatchewan’s 811 HealthLine.

“In any life-threatening emergency, 9-1-1 should be called immediately so paramedics can assess, treat, and transport the patient to the nearest available site for medical attention,” the government added.

Cockrill said just getting to the current frequency of reporting has been a lengthy process, taking a lot of work to get the reporting consistent around the province.

“As we’ve achieved that consistency, now we can work on increasing the frequency and availability of that information for patients,” the minister said.

While the Saskatchewan NDP has been pushing the government for better reporting, NDP rural and remote health critic Jared Clarke said doubling the frequency isn’t enough to address the issues created by service disruptions.

Reporting twice a day isn’t good enough for the NDP’s rural and remote health critic, Jared Clarke. He said the public should see real-time reporting of any ER disruptions. April 30, 2026. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

“People in an emergency, people need to know whether or not their emergency room is open or closed,” Clarke said. “We know that this information exists in the (Saskatchewan Health Authority). Why can they not simply give that to the people of Saskatchewan?”

In the fall, Clarke introduced a bill which would require real-time reporting of service disruptions. It passed a second reading, but was voted down on Thursday.

Clarke accused the government of playing political games with this issue.

“The day we introduced our bill was the day they suddenly went to a once-a-day reporting of hospital closures. And now here, today, when the bill could possibly go to committee, it’s a miracle. They’ve they’ve announced a slightly better version of it,” said Clarke.

Cockrill said on Thursday that the government and NDP were in agreement that patients should have get most up-to-date information possible, but he said the NDP’s bill wasn’t operationally feasible.

The NDP called the government’s decision to vote down the bill reckless and irresponsible.

–with files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick