Throughout the pandemic, the Moe government has shown its reluctance to listen to medical experts to enact public health measures in a timely way. This mishandling has directly contributed to today’s current backlog of surgeries. CUPE Local 5430 is concerned about the backlog for surgical procedures and diagnostic services, but improvements can and must be made within our public and universal health care system.

“Contracting out surgeries is not a magic silver bullet for wait times. There is a limited pool of health care staff, and privatization of more health care services will pull medical staff away from the public system,” said Bashir Jalloh, president of CUPE Local 5430. This decision will only worsen our recruitment and retention challenges.

Saskatchewan’s health care providers are the backbone of our health care system – but many classifications are overlooked. CUPE Local 5430 has launched a member profile campaign to highlight the important work our members do – and the challenges they face in the workplace. 

Selena Heglund – Unit Clerk

Selena Heglund is a Unit Clerk and Operating Room scheduler in Estevan. In her role at the hospital, she is responsible for scheduling a wide range of procedures, and making sure patients are fully prepared for their appointments. She books operating rooms, outpatient procedures, endoscopies, the mobile cardiac care unit, chronic kidney disease clinics and chemotherapy appointments.

Front line health care workers from CUPE Local 5430 attended Thursday’s session of the Legislature to call attention to the chronic staffing issues in Saskatchewan’s health care system.

“Short staffing was an issue before COVID-19, but the pandemic has made the situation much worse for health care workers,” said Bashir Jalloh, president of CUPE Local 5430 and a Nuclear Medicine Technician at the Pasqua Hospital. “Staffing shortages have an impact on patients and residents. We have seen a shortage of cooks result in weeks of soup and sandwiches for long-term care residents. We have seen patients in Prince Albert denied home care – even though they qualify and are facing medical needs.”

On top of the slow downs in surgeries, therapies, and other services due to COVID-19 redeployment, rural communities are facing temporary closures and shutdowns because of recruitment and retention issues - Canora Hospital Emergency Services, Redvers Emergency and Acute Care Services, and Broadview Emergency and Acute Care Services just to name a few.

SGEU, SEIU-West and CUPE – three Saskatchewan unions representing health care providers – are concerned by the legitimacy of a recent statement by Premier Scott Moe who claimed his government has followed through on a commitment to hire additional Continuing Care Assistant (CCA) positions for home care and long-term care services.  

Earlier this month, the government issued a news release and the premier claimed on Twitter that his government has filled 95 of the 108 CCA positions they committed to hiring in the 2020-2021 provincial budget. These additional health care staff were meant to address understaffed home care and long-term care services across the province but were far less than the 300 new CCAs Moe promised during the 2020 election campaign.