Prince Albert was pulled into a growing provincial debate over hospital capacity this week after the Saskatchewan NDP said leaked internal records showed the city’s ICU had been placed on bypass earlier this month.
Shadow Health MInister Meara Conway said the material received by the Opposition showed Prince Albert and North Battleford had been on bypass in recent days or weeks, while Saskatoon ICUs were also placed on bypass over the weekend.
“We received leaked documents that over the weekend, Saskatoon ICUs were on bypass, and then we also received information that both PA and North Battleford had been on bypass. Similarly, the ICUs had been on bypass in recent days and weeks,” Conway said.
Conway said the Prince Albert bypass shown in the records was dated March 18.
“The PA bypass, I believe the documents show, that was in that, was on March 18, and then North Battleford was within days of that. And then this past weekend, we had the Saskatoon ICUs on bypass.”
She argued that several bypass alerts in a short span point to a broader system strain affecting patients, paramedics, and frontline staff.
“Often EMS will get information in real time about where patients can go and where they can be treated. So it may mean longer distance of travel, thus EMS not being available to other calls that are coming in,” Conway said.
Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill rejected the Opposition’s framing on Monday during a media scrum, saying the information was being misrepresented.
“They find a couple of emails (and) these weren’t even for emergency rooms, so to stand in front of a hospital in Saskatoon today and say that ERs were turning away patients this weekend in Saskatoon, that’s so far from the truth. That’s not accurate,” Cockrill said during a scrum Monday.
Cockrill said the notices were not about emergency rooms closing, but about ICU capacity.
“Just to clarify, when you’re saying there were bypasses, they were specifically just on ICU beds in the hospital. Yeah, so when ICU beds are at capacity, and again, there’s nuance to that too, and I think the SHA operational leaders likely provided some more details on that.”
That explanation was echoed by Saskatchewan Health Authority officials during a Zoom media briefing Monday afternoon.
“There has been public reporting and assertions today suggesting that all Saskatoon hospitals were on bypass this weekend, that emergency departments were closed, or that patients were turned away. That is not accurate,” said Derek Miller, chief operating officer with the SHA.
Miller said the notices related specifically to “Critical Care bypass” and were used to manage ICU admissions from outside Saskatoon when beds there were full. He said Saskatoon hospitals continued to accept emergency patients, and that critical care bypass did not mean hospitals or emergency departments were closed.
He added that when Saskatoon is on critical care bypass, ICU admissions from outside the region may be directed to other centres, including Prince Albert, North Battleford, Yorkton, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, and Regina.
At the same time, SHA acknowledged that capacity pressures are real, saying Saskatoon hospitals and emergency departments are facing increased demand and are using overcapacity protocols.
“We also recognize that capacity pressures are real. Saskatoon’s hospitals and emergency departments are experiencing increased demand, and as a result, are using over capacity protocols, including surge spaces and when necessary, bypass protocols,” Derek MIller said. “However, this does not mean patients will be turned away.”
What remains unclear is whether Prince Albert received any redirected ICU patients during the Saskatoon bypass period. During the SHA media briefing, officials were asked how many patients were diverted, but Derek Miller said he did not have that information available.
Conway said that lack of detail added to her concerns.
“There was a press conference held by SHA yesterday. I had an opportunity to listen in on some of the questions that were asked a lot, and there was a lot of avoiding the questions they were asked. How many people were diverted? Where were they sent? Where was the surge staff sent? Not a lot of answers to those questions.”
She also briefly linked the ICU pressure to broader healthcare capacity issues, including alternate level of care patients, long-term care shortages, home care gaps, and a separate leaked SHA budget memo released Tuesday. That budget document was not the focus of the government’s response Tuesday and is expected to require a separate follow-up.
For now, the clearest point of agreement between both sides is that the notices involved critical bypass. Where they sharply differ is in what those alerts say about the state of Saskatchewan’s hospital system, including Prince Albert’s.
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
