Patient Transfers Start To Ontario

The strain on the Saskatchewan health care system is about to get some relief as the Saskatchewan Health Authority SHA) has started to transfer patients for care in Ontario.

The decision was made as a result of the prolonged high demand for critical care in Saskatchewan.

Presently capacity challenges are compromising the quality and availability of critical care for all Saskatchewan residents.

“We recognize the stress this will cause the families affected,” Scott Livingstone, the SHA's CEO said in a statement.

“We continue to work every day to maximize capacity to provide care as close to home as possible, but this decision is necessary to maintain the quality of critical care services our patients need. We are extremely thankful to our partners in Ontario for stepping up and providing this support,” Livingstone

Normally the SHA has 79 ICU beds in the province.

The overall number of patients admitted to an ICU bed in Saskatchewan (COVID plus non-COVID) has been ranging from approximately 139 per cent to 153 per cent normal planned capacity over the last 10 days (patient numbers ranging from 110 to 118).

As of October 17th there were 118 ICU patients.

Over the last two weeks 30 to 40 people have been receiving high flow oxygen and ICU care on other wards.

Monday (today) will see one patient transferred to Ontario with up to six by Wednesday.

Previously in the pandemic Saskatchewan received ICU patients from Manitoba when their healthcare system became overwhelmed by the needs of critical care due to the COVID - 19 pandemic.