Photo: Daily Herald File Photo (From L-R) Jared Clarke, Dennis Ogrodnick and Carla Beck at the Press Briefing in front of Alana Ross’ Office in February.
By Michael Oleksyn
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Prince Albert Daily Herald
On Thursday NDP MLA for Regina Walsh Acres and Shadow Minister for Rural and Remote Health Jared Clarke introduced a Private Member’s Bill to end the Saskatchewan Party government’s decision to charge some cancer patients parking fees every time they visit a health facility for treatment.
Former Prince Albert city councillor Dennis Ogrodnick has been leading the charge to restore free parking for cancer patients. Ogrodnick was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2023 and was stripped of his parking pass in 2024.
The bill passed first reading on Thursday which Ogrodnick said was a step but an insignificant one.
“In the long run, it doesn’t mean much, but it did get past first reading, which is a positive step that everybody in the legislature, in the assembly, allowed it to go to second reading. And so that’s a positive step,” Ogrodnick said.
Bill 615, An Act to amend The Provincial Health Authority Act to Ban Parking Fees for Cancer Patients at Health Authority Facilities, would do exactly what its title states.
The bill would ensure that a health services entity or person operating a facility that has been designated for the care of cancer patients pursuant to section 2-9 could not charge parking fees to patients attending the facility to access cancer treatments.
In a media scrum on Thursday Minister of Rural and Remote Health Lori Carr said the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) strives to balance compassion, fairness, and consistency in all its policies.
“The SHA administers parking fees to help recover costs of maintaining parking facilities so that health care funding and resources can be directed to frontline health care,” Carr said.
Carr said that parking fees go back into maintaining the parking lots throughout the province.
“The monies that we spend on the health care budget we’re trying to put right into the front line care that happens for those patients. And so specifically when we talk about cancer patients within our patients first plan, we’re adding diagnostic imaging throughout the province, which goes into that frontline care to help detect early detection of cancer,” Carr said.
Ogrodnick disagreed with all of the logic used by Carr including that the province tries not to pick one group over another.
“Because if I had kidney disease, I would get free parking at the hospital, but I have kidney cancer, I now have to pay. I used to get it free, now I have to pay. So she’s already picking winners and losers. And people with kidney disease get free parking.”
He also pointed to the free parking at the Hospital in Carr’s Estevan riding. Carr also pointed to money collected going to maintenance of parking lots and patient care.
“So my question is, of the five communities that they charge parking, What about the other seven communities that have hospitals? Who pays for their maintenance of parking? They can’t answer these things,” Ogrodnick said.
“They’re making things up as they go to justify this cruel and mean-spirited policy that they put in two years ago,” he explained.
In an email to the Daily Herald the SHAA said that it is focused on providing safe, quality care to the people of Saskatchewan.
They stated that the SHA uses parking fees to recover costs associated with providing parking facilities, in order to direct more resources toward front line healthcare.
The SHA stated that it acknowledges there are differences in parking fees province-wide, driven in part by the varied practises of the former regional health authorities (RHA).
They explained that in the past, patient parking had been managed differently by each former RHA. For example, in Regina/Saskatoon, cancer patient parking has always been paid parking, however in Prince Albert, cancer patients had traditionally received free parking under former Prince Albert Parkland RHA.
In late 2023, SHA Parking Services implemented a new provincial parking policy with a consistent approach to parking services. This resulted in aligning parking fees for cancer patients provincially, with free parking no longer being provided in some centres.
They stated that charging parking fees at the local facility level also considers the local demand for parking spaces by all patients and families, staff and physicians, along with the maintenance pressures that demand puts on those parking facilities.
They added that SHA parking fees have remained unchanged for several years.
Ogrodnick who was diagnosed in May 2023 explained that he had one year of free parking under the old plan.
” I had one year free parking. And then April 15th of 2024, because I was diagnosed in May of 2023. So just about a year of free parking. And then in April of 2024, they started charging,” Ogrodnick said.
He said that he learned at the time from nurses at Victoria Hospital that the SHA had decided to start charging. He said that in a chemotherapy room he chatted with other patients who encouraged him to take up the challenge of challenging the changes.
“And they said that the nurses had told us that they can’t give us free passes anymore and that we have to pay. And this is the decision of Saskatchewan Health Authority. One patient in particular, who Ogrodnick will not name without the permission of the family, inspired him,” Ogrodnick said.
Ogrodnick said the encouragement motivated him to keep pushing for change.
“But she’s the one that inspired me to continue the fight because I was getting a little frustrated and defeated, you know. And she said, no, Dennis, she says, ‘you’re the person, you’re a city councillor right now, you’re a teacher, you speak, you’re not scared, and they’ll listen to you, they’re not going to listen to us,’” Ogrodnick said.
He said that the government should be listening to everybody but he promised her that he would keep fighting.
“So I promised her that I would fight until I die or until the change occurs. And that’s what I’m doing. I’m keeping my promise. So even if they kibosh it here, which Minister Carr seems to think they’re going to stop it. I’m going to continue to press on and I’m going to call these people out,” Ogrodnick said.
He said that he would ask the NDP to ensure that they got a recorded vote to see who voted against the bill to see if area MLAs Alana Ross, Eric Schmalz, Darlene Rowden and Kevin Kasun voted against their own constituents.
“They better vote in favour of their constituents. They better put people before their party. Otherwise, I will be on the attack against them,” Ogrodnick said.
Ogrodnick said that the Canadian Cancer Society has stated that out-of-pocket expenses can run from anywhere from $300 to $900 per patient per month. He gave the example of some of his medications that cost $26 per month.
“And the Canadian Cancer Society says across Canada, the average cancer patient spends the most money on transportation and parking,” Ogrodnick said.
Clarke gave the example of parking at Casinos.
“This change should be easy,” Clarke said in a release. “We have free parking at Casinos Regina and Moose Jaw, but not at the hospital for cancer patients — that’s right, you can park for free to gamble but not to get cancer treatment.
“Our loved ones deserve the best care we can offer them. They deserve to be able to focus on their recovery, not have to fight with their government over parking passes.
“It’s clearly time for a change.”
Carr was asked about the policy during her media scrum about supporting the bill.
“The policy is probably going to stay as it is,” Carr said.