Hundreds of Saskatchewan nurses stood at the steps of the Legislature Building in Regina on the third day of the election campaign, demanding the next government follow through and fix staffing problems in health care.
Tracy Zambory, the president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, told a cheering crowd Thursday that nurses and patients deserve a plan that ensures shorter wait times, more support and safety.
“Registered nurses are giving it their all, but it has become impossible to provide safe care when they are constantly working so incredibly short-staffed,” she said in Regina to shouts of “Enough is enough!”
Zambory said parties need to show their plans and commit to them.
“Safe staffing gets my vote,” she said, adding the next government also needs to address the lack of family doctors.
Election day is set for Oct. 28.
Sarah Peters, an emergency room nurse at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, said staff are run off their feet helping patients.
She said some patients have received care in beds in hallways while others have slept in their car because there were no beds.
“A hallway where the lights never go out, the noise never ceases and the constant shuffle to make space for more people never stops. I am so sorry, you all deserve so much better,” she said.
“I am here to fight for you today and every day, I am furious with the people who have the power to make change, but instead choose to ignore our calls for help.”
Two Saskatoon nurses say the health-care system is at a breaking point and that they need to speak out about what they are seeing. Sarah Peters, a veteran ER nurse at Royal University Hospital, and Stephanie Fehr, an ER nurse St. Paul’s Hospital, appeared on CBC’s Blue Sky with Leisha Grebinski.
Stephanie Fehr, an emergency room nurse at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, said staff worry about not being able to handle a mass casualty disaster.
She pointed to the bus crash in 2018 involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team, where 16 people on the bus were killed and 13 injured after a truck driver barrelled through a stop sign.
“It is exponentially worse than it was in 2018,” Fehr said.
“All of the overcapacity spaces are full. There is no plan on how we would deal with that.”
NDP Leader Carla Beck, who attended the rally, told reporters that if she forms government, she would team up with nurses to find solutions.
Beck has promised to spend an extra $1.1 billion on health care over four years.
The NDP has said it would phase out the use of out-of-province contract nurses, which it says costs three times more than those hired locally. It would also hire more full-time positions.
“We won’t tell you that we have answers or a quick fix to what’s going on in health care,” Beck said.
“I believe Saskatchewan people when they say they’re not getting the care that they need. And I’m prepared to listen, roll up my sleeves and fund it.”
Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party introduced a plan two years ago to deal with issues in the system.
He told reporters in Prince Albert the province has hired more than 1,300 recent nursing graduates.
“There is much more work to do here, and the Health Human Resources plan has not certainly found its way to the end of its work. We’re committed to continuing to do that work and continuing to offer the services.”
Zambory said Moe’s numbers don’t tell the whole story.
She said Saskatchewan is short 700 full-time registered nursing jobs.
“There is one nurse to 14 patients, so [the Saskatchewan Party] can make all the announcements they want. They’re not translating to the front line. They’ve got to do better.”