Phase 3 of re-opening the provincial economy began on Monday and Phase 2 for health services begins next Tuesday. The Saskatchewan Health Authority reports that surgical capacity will increase over a few weeks to around 70 per cent of the pre-COVID numbers.

This will vary by site. Yorkton Regional Health Centre is already up to 75 per cent of its regular volumes. Medical imaging will also increase, targeting up to 90 per cent of the pre-pandemic volumes. Current levels for MRI and CT scans are up to 83 per cent, starting at 50 per cent in Phase 1.

CEO Scott Livingstone says virtual care appointments continue to be offered where possible, with face-to-face services being offered where needed. He considers virtual care a success story of the pandemic, with over 122-thousand appointments with physicians, nurse practitioners and other health care providers. He cautions that as we increase the amount of people in health facilities, we need to be extra vigilant and monitor the impact on our health system as strategies to combat the virus continue.

Health Minister Jim Reiter says that as health services increase, the number of available beds will be reduced for patients with COVID-19, but even if there were to be a second wave, the beds wouldn’t be closed again. Instead, patients would be moved to other hospitals and then if they fill up, the 2 field hospitals in Saskatoon and Regina are available for COVID patients.

A ballpark figure of the cost of the set up of the 2 field hospitals is around $8-million in total, but the Health Authority emphasizes much of the equipment is re-usable and could be re-deployed elsewhere. The largest expenditure would be the cost of staff.
The latest budget for the SHA indicates 80 per cent of its cost is staff remuneration.

Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab says 3 of the 8 new cases reported this week are travel related – 2 are from international travel as Canadian citizens return home and 1 linked to inter-provincial travel.