Saskatchewan’s NDP raised concerns about private-pay health care in Prince Albert on Monday, argueing that recent comments from Premier Scott Moe could open the door to a two-tier system in the province.
Keith Jorgenson, the NDP MLA for Saskatoon Churchill-Wildwood and associate health critic, spoke to the Daily Herald in Prince Albert after the party raised concerns about Moe’s comments on the Canada Health Act and private surgical options.
Jorgenson said the NDP believes Moe’s comments point toward an Alberta-style model where surgeons could work in the public system and also perform private-pay surgeries.
“We heard, which I would describe as a rather extraordinary interview that Scott Moe gave to a podcast,” Jorgenson said. “In that he talks about essentially violating the Canada Health Act, and sort of gutting the idea of public medicine.”
In a clip from The Christy Clark Show provided by the NDP, Moe said governments need to think differently about health care.
“We do need to think about health care differently,” Moe said in the clip. “If we just continue on, you know, throwing money at it as provincial governments do, we are doomed.”
After the host asked whether it was time to rethink the Canada Health Act, Moe said the act “has to change” and called it “an outdated piece of legislation that needs to change with the times.”
Moe also referred to changes in Alberta involving surgeons and private surgeries. In a longer clip played during the interview, Moe referred to surgeons working in the public system in Saskatchewan while being able to perform private surgeries in other provinces. Jorgenson said those comments are what raised concern for the NDP.
Jorgenson said the concern is not about every private provider that works within the public system. He said Saskatchewan has long had examples of privately delivered services, such as X-ray clinics, that are publicly funded.
“I think there’s always been a role for private providers within the public system,” he said.
Jorgenson said the NDP’s concern is patients being allowed to pay out of pocket for major surgeries, such as hip or knee replacements, while others remain on the public wait list.
“If a surgeon leaves the public system and starts performing surgeries privately, then that means all the people who are on the public list end up waiting longer,” he said.
Jorgenson said communities outside Saskatoon and Regina, including Prince Albert, could be affected if health care workers and surgical resources are pulled toward private-pay services in larger centres.
He said Victoria Hospital is already facing pressure, and the answer should be to strengthen the public system rather than create a parallel one.
“Rather than trying to hire extra nurses and doctors to work in the PA Victoria Hospital, we’re going to create a private system that is going to draw those professionals away and reduce access to services in places like PA,” he said.
Jorgenson said the NDP wants the province to focus on recruiting and retaining health care workers, improving primary care, and creating incentives for more surgeries to be performed in the public system.
He said allowing patients to pay privately would not create more surgeons or operating room time.
“It doesn’t make an extra surgeon, it doesn’t make an extra surgery,” Jorgenson said. “It just chooses who has that surgery performed on them.”
In a statement sent on behalf of Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill, the province said the premier was highlighting what the government is seeing on the ground in Saskatchewan.
“The Canada Health Act was written more than 40 years ago and was not designed for today’s technology, patient needs, or modern approaches to delivering care,” the statement said.
The province said Saskatchewan has not put forward specific amendments to the Canada Health Act at this time, but believes there is a need for a modern conversation about how the act is applied, particularly when it comes to improving access and reducing wait times.
The government also pointed to Saskatchewan’s 2-for-1 MRI and CT program, which allows patients to purchase scans from private medical imaging clinics while requiring the clinic to provide a second scan to a patient on the public wait list at no cost to the patient or the public system.
The province said data released by CIHI on June 25 showed Saskatchewan had the shortest MRI and CT wait times in Canada in 2025. The statement also said the federal government claws back about $1 million per year from Saskatchewan’s Canada Health Transfer as a penalty for offering the 2-for-1 MRI and CT program.
“Our focus remains on finding practical, patient-first solutions that improve timely access to care,” the statement said.
The province said that work includes expanding access, reducing wait times and broadening the scope of practice for health care professionals through the Patients First Health Care Action Plan.
Jorgenson said he wants Moe to make a clear commitment that Saskatchewan will not move toward private-pay surgery.
“I would want them to say that they will follow the law, that they will not violate the Canada Health Act,” he said.
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
