Government of Saskatchewan ministries, Crown corporations and organizations are implementing contingency plans to minimize the impacts of postal service disruption.
Les ministères, sociétés d’État et organismes du gouvernement de la Saskatchewan mettent en œuvre des plans d’urgence (en anglais) visant à réduire les répercussions de l’interruption du service des postes.
A number of pages on the Government of Saskatchewan's website have been professionally translated in French. These translations are identified by a yellow box in the right or left rail that resembles the link below. The home page for French-language content on this site can be found at:
Where an official translation is not available, Google™ Translate can be used. Google™ Translate is a free online language translation service that can translate text and web pages into different languages. Translations are made available to increase access to Government of Saskatchewan content for populations whose first language is not English.
Software-based translations do not approach the fluency of a native speaker or possess the skill of a professional translator. The translation should not be considered exact, and may include incorrect or offensive language. The Government of Saskatchewan does not warrant the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information translated by this system. Some files or items cannot be translated, including graphs, photos and other file formats such as portable document formats (PDFs).
Any person or entities that rely on information obtained from the system does so at his or her own risk. Government of Saskatchewan is not responsible for any damage or issues that may possibly result from using translated website content. If you have any questions about Google™ Translate, please visit: Google™ Translate FAQs.
SHA Cautiously Moves Forward As Some Health Services Resume
Released on May 19, 2020
Today, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has begun to resume some health services in varying parts of the province as a cautious first step toward re-opening the health system.
“It’s a delicate balance we begin today toward a ‘new normal’ while still responding to the realities of a global pandemic,” SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said. “Teams have and will continue to balance service resumption plans with the necessary health system capacity required for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients; including the need for ongoing expanded testing capacity, long term contact tracing demands and maintaining the ability for the foreseeable future to surge to meet the requirements when localized outbreaks happen.”
May 19 marks the first day of phase one, with a focus on resuming a few everyday services such as outpatient physiotherapy appointments, kidney health services, some laboratory services, home care (e.g. bathing services) and expanded immunizations. As part of taking an approach that is tailored to health system readiness in various areas of the province, it should be noted that not all services listed in phase one will begin immediately on May 19.
The services listed in phase one of the plan are those that may start beginning May 19, subject to an approval process that ensures service resumption is undertaken in a considered, thoughtful and safe manner. Some areas of the province will be ready to resume services, while others are not yet ready. In many cases, the public can expect that their health care experience will be different than prior to the pandemic because of additional measures in place to protect patients and staff. These include adaptation of waiting room practices to promote physical distancing, additional emphasis on virtual care, wherever possible, and additional screening at health care facilities.
The SHA is asking for patience, as these practices are necessary for safety reasons but may cause delays and inconveniences for patients seeking care as services resume. Phase one will also include an expansion of surgeries beyond “three week urgent and emergent cases” to now include “six week urgent cases”.
A pause on non-urgent and elective surgeries two months ago was necessary to minimize risk to those not needing emergent care, while ensuring hospitals had capacity for a surge in COVID patients. While that need has not changed, the SHA also recognizes the importance of cautiously increasing surgeries for the physical and mental well-being of those on waiting lists.
“A patient’s priority on the surgery list will be determined based on a clinical assessment by their physicians, in consultation with the patient,” SHA’s Physician Executive of Integrated Health Urban Dr. Rashaad Hansia said. “It’s not based only on the type of surgery needed. Given the complexity of the work involved to resume surgical services in as safe a manner as possible, we won’t see a significant increase right away. What we are seeing is surgeons working with their patients to assess their needs and determine who qualifies for the six week urgent category, then scheduling those for today and in the weeks ahead.”
The priority of surgeries resumed is being done in collaboration with surgeons, and based on their assessments of patients and recommendations. The availability of surgical bookings for each provider is being balanced across all the surgical specialties, and considers the availability of appropriate post-surgical care such as nursing and therapies. Medical Imaging departments are also cautiously increasing CT, MRI and other diagnostic testing to enable non-urgent and elective exams.
However, surgery bookings and the other every day health services resuming today, and in the days ahead, will not be resumed based on a one size fits all approach. Service resumption will vary based on a multitude of factors, including considerations around localized outbreak status, capacity, requirements around adhering to public health orders and other factors used to ensure safety and readiness.
