The provincial NDP says the Sask Party government will allow rural emergency rooms to remain open as long as there is one registered nurse working on-site.

The NDP says this is contained in a leaked memo it has obtained. The memo outlines the requirements for declaring publicly that an emergency room is closed—something the Saskatchewan Health Authority started doing this week. The NDP says the memo makes it clear the emergency room cannot close even if there are no doctors or lab technicians on-site.

The Shadow Minister for Rural and Remote Health Jared Clarke says “instead of fixing the problem, the government is changing the rules and hopes no one notices.”