The provincial government says it’s making headway on providing shorter wait times for patients who need elective surgery.
Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go for the Ministry of Health to meet its pledge of providing elective surgeries to all patients in the province in three months or less.
Health Minister Dustin Duncan says Saskatoon, Regina and the Prince Albert/Parkland health regions haven’t quite met this goal yet.
He says Prince Albert sits at a 96 per cent achievement rate and may start to help Saskatoon with some surgeries.
“They are looking at ways to repatriate some surgeries back from Saskatoon, especially around dental,” he says. “They may have some capacity that may help keep people closer to home, especially from Prince Albert and the northern areas, but as well as give some relief to the Saskatoon Health Region.”
Saskatoon is expected to reach the three-month-or-less wait time by the fall of this year while Regina isn’t expected to hit the mark until the spring of 2015.