The Canadian Union of Public Employees says the Moe government is considering plans to cut services to the microbiology lab at Yorkton Regional Health Centre. The union calls it a betrayal of rural health services that will increase wait times for diagnostic services.

Sandra Seitz, president of CUPE Local 5430 says, “Rural health services have been struggling under this provincial government, and the cutting of microbiology lab services would further erode rural health care services in Saskatchewan,” She says, “Having to send samples to Regina would double the wait time for test results meaning rural patients are at a greater risk of delayed treatment.”

CUPE says Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s laboratory system has been plagued with staffing problems. The union says in a recent survey, 83 per cent of lab workers said that heavy workload has kept them from doing their jobs to the best of their ability, and 92 per cent cited appropriate support and direction from management as a factor negatively impacting their job performance.

Seitz says, “It was staff shortages that forced temporary lab closures in Broadview and Moosomin,” She says, “The SHA can address the chronic staff shortages in laboratories with an improved recruitment and retention plan, rather than more cut backs.