A northern Saskatchewan MLA is speaking out over recent service disruptions at the health clinic in Beauval.
Over the past month the health clinic has seen two separate service disruptions due to a staffing shortfall.
When the first service disruption occurred in January, Beauval mayor Rick Laliberte issued a media release on the matter. Laliberte expressed his disappointment over the situation.
“It is distressing for everyone that basic health services stop because the institutions responsible have not been able to recruit the required number of professionals to staff our health centre,” read the statement from Laliberte.
The northern mayor would then call on all levels of government to get involved to find a solution.
In a conversation with MBC News this week, following the announcement of another service disruption, NDP MLA Leroy Laliberte re-iterated many of the same concerns.
“These are scary times when we are not able to receive the services we need.” said Laliberte. “People are going to die without these services.”
Laliberte, who serves as the provincial Shadow Minister for Northern Affairs, called on the government to meet with local leaders to find solutions.
“Can we have a sit down, so we can get these services in these communities,” he said. “But they haven’t given them the time of day to have these conversations.”
Laliberte says this is not just an issue happening in Beauval.
“This is happening throughout the north. Not even just throughout the north this is happening throughout the province.”
In the meantime, the Saskatchewan Health Authority provided a statement to MBC News about the service disruptions in Beauval.
In the statement, the health authority says the current service disruption is not a full facility disruption, but a disruption of Primary Health Care Services due to a shortage of nurses with advanced authorized practices.
The SHA says the service disruptions in Beauval are not ideal, but that they are committed to restoring health services as soon as possible. They also say every jurisdiction in Canada is seeing an increased demand for health services and they are working to address staffing shortfalls.
The full statement from the SHA is available here – SHA statement on Beauval service disruption
The interview MBC News did with Leroy Laliberte is available here.