Health care service in Saskatchewan’s north isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s how the NDP MLA for Athabasca feels following another temporary service disruption at the Beauval Health Centre. The Saskatchewan Party is once again closing services at the Beauval health centre,” Leroy Laliberte remarked in a recent statement. “Primary care nursing, lab and on-call emergency care services are all closed until Feb. 24. According to the health centre, the problem is short staffing. After 17 years of the Saskatchewan Party, our province is ranked last place in health care worker recruitment and retention.” News of the current closure was announced via social media.
“We share your concerns about ongoing service disruptions and gaps in primary and emergency care in our northern communities,” the post reads. “Please be advised there will be a disruption to services at the Beauval Health Centre. Due to no primary care nursing coverage, nursing services will not be available Friday, Feb. 14 at 8 a.m. until Monday, Feb. 24 at 8 a.m. A doctor’s clinic is booked Feb. 21. Health care services including emergency services are available at St. Joseph’s Heath Centre in Ile-a-la Crosse (306-833-3500) and the Meadow Lake Hospital (306-236-1500). Call 911 for emergencies. Call Health Line toll-free 24 hours a day at 811 if you have questions about your health.” A similar notice was issued for the Beauval Health Centre from Jan. 10-27 during which Beauval mayor Rick Laliberte expressed his disappointment in the decline of health services for his community. “Of course it is distressing for everyone basic health services stop because the institutions responsible have not been able to recruit the required number of professionals to staff our health centre,” Rick Laliberte noted. “We must all work together to solve issues before they critically impact our citizens.”
The mayor went on to say the SHA must work with the community to discuss shortcomings in all areas, including staffing shortages, recruitment and retention. He also believes it is unacceptable to have a centralized administration located so far south of the community. “That kind of management model has its shortcomings,” he added. That’s why the mayor is calling on all parties to come to Beauval to meet and discuss health issues, and to work together toward solutions. “The clinic not only serves the community of Beauval, but is open to a broader population base which includes members of the English River First Nation living at the Lac La Plunge reserve,” he said. “We must have the federal and provincial governments at the table, along with our First Nations neighbours, the Métis Local leaders, surrounding community leadership and our own village council.” Mayor Laliberte also noted the north already had a successful and responsive regional health model that was centred in the region and was significantly more responsive to a wide range of health services.
“I believe we could be more responsive and still be economically efficient,” he stated. “We don’t have to recreate solutions; we just build on and refine the ones we know we have. After all, the lives of our people depend on it. What is more important than that?” Meanwhile, Leroy Laliberte echoed the Beauval mayor’s sentiments. “This is leading to health care closures in all corners of the province, and this is the second multi-day closure at the Beauval Health Centre in about a month,” he said. “With the same old Saskatchewan Party in charge, short staffing will only get worse. We need a government focused on the future that will deliver results for rural and northern communities.”