Released on December 16, 2002
The government has made substantial progress in the past year onimplementing the Action Plan for Saskatchewan Health Care.
"The Action Plan provided a blueprint for improving the quality of health
services and access to care for the people of our province," Nilson
said. "Over the past year, we have moved forward on the immediate
priorities of the Action Plan, and built the foundation for meaningful,
long-term change in our health system."
Nilson said the provincial Action Plan is consistent with the priorities
for change outlined in the recent Romanow Report and he urged the federal
government to increase its share of health spending to support health care
renewal in Saskatchewan and across the country.
The provincial government budgeted more than $2.3 billion this year to
provide health services for Saskatchewan residents. In addition to funding
the ongoing activities of Saskatchewan Health and its partners, this
investment ensures that work is proceeding on the following key health plan
initiatives.
Considerable efforts went into retaining and recruiting health providers,
including the awarding over 250 bursaries to students in various health
disciplines in exchange for a commitment to practice in the province upon
graduation. The government will distribute $3.8 million in health
bursaries this year - an increase of nearly $800,000 over last year. As
well, there were improved wages and benefits for health providers in new
collective agreements, new nursing training opporunities for the north, and
a pilot project for licensing foreign-trained physicians.
Some other first-year highlights include:
establishing 12 Regional Health Authorities to improve province-
wide planning and Co-ordination of services;
creating Canada's first Health Quality Council, to develop
innovative ways to improve health care quality; and
establishing the Saskatchewan Surgical Care Network to develop a
provide-wide surgical registry, and tools to assess and fairly rank
patients for surgery. A wait list Web site is expected to be
launched in January.
(A detailed list of accomplishments is attached.)
Nilson said the government will continue to work on implementing the medium
and long-term objectives set out in the document and renewed the commitment
to fulfill all of the Action Plan commitments.
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For more information, contact:
Myrna Stark Leader
Health
Regina
Phone: (306) 787-4083