The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) announced Wednesday they will enter phase three of their reopening plan, which includes increasing surgical and imaging volumes starting June 16.
When the SHA’s phase three takes place next week, surgical capacity will increase to 65-70 per cent provincially with inclusion of urgent, emergent and some elective procedures. According to the SHA, this will vary “significantly” by site.
A SHA media release said some locations like Yorkton Regional Health Centre are already up to 75 per cent of regular capacity as of June 10.
Medical imaging capacity will also increase in phase two, with a target of 90 per cent of pre-COVID-19 volumes across all services including MRI and CT scans. The SHA said current service levels in phase one for MRIs and CT scans are up to 83 per cent from approximately 50 per cent at the start of phase one.
SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said new required COVID-19 related precautions will be implemented around physical distancing, cohorting staff, personal protective equipment usage, and infection prevention and control.
“We know that this has made for adjustments for patients and often results in longer waits and additional steps during the care process,” said Livingstone.
“We continue to express our gratitude to the public for their patience and understanding about the need to take these extra safety measures as we reopen our healthcare system,” he added.
Livingstone said the public should know that some of the changes made during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in improvements that the SHA believes will carry on and help transform the Saskatchewan healthcare system.
One aspect Livingstone mentioned was the virtual care opportunities. He said since the start of COVID-19 in the province, 122,000 appointments have been delivered through virtual care.
“This is an enormous number in a very short period of time,” said Livingstone.
“It has helped mitigate some of our situation, but also services that would have been stopped,” he added.
Health Minister Jim Reiter said during a press conference the province is continuing on with their plans for field hospitals in Regina and Saskatoon.
“It’s now nearing the point where if needed, work could be triggered quickly to make these field hospitals operational,” said Reiter.
“We hope we never have to use them, these facilities will in effect be our insurance policy allowing us to effectively treat COVID-19 patients without having to again scale back surgeries and other important health services,” he added.
Reiter also said Saskatchewan residents deserve a healthcare system that is responsive to all their needs, while at the same time knowing their health system is well prepared to respond to the threat of COVID-19.
Livingstone said the SHA estimates the cost of the field hospitals could be in the range of about $8 million for both facilities.
“The philosophy we used when creating the context around field hospitals is the equipment that would be used is the same type of equipment that would be used in a normal hospital,” said Livingstone.