SASKATOON -- New primary healthcare clinics, significant investments in doctor recruitment and Community Access Hospitals for rural areas are part of the NDP’s ambitious and innovative plan for health care, the party revealed today as a part of its election platform.
“An NDP government will build a healthier Saskatchewan,” said Dwain Lingenfelter, NDP Leader. “Too often, the care people need just isn’t available. Wait times are excessive and services aren’t accessible enough. An NDP government will put solutions for health care into action.”
Lingenfelter, joined by other NDP candidates, said the NDP’s platform will benefit Saskatchewan families by focusing on three goals: accessibility, quality, and innovation.
“Electing the NDP means more doctors, more primary healthcare clinics, and an innovative use of facilities already in place under the Community Access Hospitals model,” he said.
The NDP health platform includes:
-$20 million investment in physician recruitment, targeting communities with vacancies
-Community Access Hospitals model, where Nurse Practitioners and emergency medical staff operate rural hospitals to keep their doors open
-100 new primary healthcare clinics over 10 years, with 30 clinics in the first term of government
-$6 million additional funding to strengthen emergency room staffing and equipment
-Funding for surgical and diagnostic care centres in smaller Saskatchewan cities
-The Saskatchewan Physicians Corps – a pool of physicians ready to aid Community -Access Hospitals and be deployed as locum physicians in centres needing support
-$2.5 million per year for midwifery services throughout the province’s health regions
-$2.5 million per year to increase speech and occupational therapists
-25 per cent increase in funding support for childhood disabilities programming and equipment for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, cerebral palsy, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and other conditions
-Reinstatement of chiropractic care coverage
“Primary healthcare clinics often make the most sense for patients, and that’s why the NDP will double the number of primary healthcare clinics over the next 10 years,” said Lingenfelter, who added a commitment to add 30 of those clinics in the first four years of an NDP government.
“Saskatchewan’s innovative health care system needs both a fiscally responsible government, and a government who cares about people,” said Lingenfelter. “Our plan responds to the need for rural services, more doctors, and better access to affordable, quality care. That’s positive change for a healthier Saskatchewan.”
