Members of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party are calling on the provincial government to do something about the recent overcapacity issues at Saskatoon hospitals.

As she stood outside of the Royal University Hospital, Official Opposition Health Critic Vicki Mowat spoke about the wait times patients are facing in hospitals and emergency rooms, a lack of beds causing people to wait in hallways, and overburdened healthcare staff. She said Monday morning, 88 patients were waiting to be transferred to a different bed and 41 patients were in the ER without a bed.

Rural and Remote Health Critic Matt Love says that the closures of small-town emergency rooms effects emergency room wait times in larger centers. He highlighted Lanigan, Watrous, Redvers and Wolseley, where long-term reduced services and reduced hours of operation are in effect.

Mowat says amid the health care crisis, the Sask. Party Government is calling the Legislature for the first emergency sitting in about 25 years. The sitting will be utilized to debate the Parent’s Bill of Rights, among other topics, which was introduced by Scott Moe’s government last week. It will require children under 16 to obtain parental consent if they wish to change their name or pronouns at school.