Saskatchewan NDP demands Moe explain health system woes, overcapacity hospitals

SASKATOON, Sask. — Saskatchewan New Democrats say the Saskatchewan Party's Scott Moe needs to explain how emergency rooms became overwhelmed under his watch as premier.

Health care reform is one of the key issues in the provincial election, which will see voters go to the polls Oct. 28.

Vicki Mowat, a candidate for the NDP, says data from the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses shows the emergency room at Saskatoon's Royal University Hospital had reached 350 per cent capacity Tuesday night.

Mowat says it's Moe's fault the hospital and other health-care facilities in the province are stressed, and says he can't be trusted to fix the problem.

Mowat has promised an NDP government would open the Saskatoon hospital 24 hours a day, along with recruiting and retaining more workers.

Moe has said his health-care plan, launched two years ago, has hired more staff to provide relief to the system.

Mowat said Moe's plan is not working.

“Our Saskatoon emergencies are overrun and understaffed, leaving families to fend for themselves,” she said in a statement Thursday.

“Scott Moe and the Sask. Party have spent years starving our hospitals."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2024.

The Canadian Press