By Glenn Hicks

SHA amalgamation: one year on

Dec 4, 2018 | 4:00 PM

The expansion of pediatric services at Prince Albert’s Victoria Hospital is in the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA) plans, especially in light of the new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital opening in Saskatoon next year.

The acknowledgement of the ever-increasing stresses on areas such as the hospital’s neonatal unit, was made by SHA Chief Executive Officer Scott Livingstone, who spoke to the media Tuesday to celebrate the first anniversary of the single amalgamated health authority.

“Pediatrics is one of the areas where we’re hoping to expand services in P.A., even before a new facility is built [there],” Livingstone told paNOW. He said the increasing demand for pediatric care and the new children’s hospital in Saskatoon coming online in 2019, this area of health care would be one of the first model lines that the SHA would create to show how they integrate clinical services across the province.

The P.A. hospital is now handling around 1,500 deliveries a year and there is a growing number of sick and premature babies requiring special treatment in a neonatal unit that has not expanded in decades. The improvement of this facility is the focus of the hospital foundation’s fundraising campaign Friday during the 12-hour Give A Little Life Radiothon on the various Jim Pattison Broadcast Group radio stations.

As for the bigger question of the future of the Victoria Hospital, Livingstone was asked if the removal of competition for ministry funding among the previous 12 separate health authorities had allowed for the speeding up of key decisions regarding a new or renovated facility.

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Livingstone said he wasn’t sure if the creation of the single provincial health authority had sped up that process other than to support the renewal of the building as one of government’s priorities for servicing the North.

Meanwhile, he noted the existence of the single SHA had “raised the profile and the voice for the North” because this region was now one of only three geographical hubs with specific senior leadership teams. The other two are the Saskatoon/Regina urban hub, and the rural areas which encompass the South East and South West.

“The thing that our organizational structure does is it gives the North the same exact representation it does the rest of the province,” Livingstone said. “So it’s a voice that’s heard at the same table with the same leadership team that hasn’t existed before.”

Among the highlights listed by the SHA in their first year of operations was the rollout of the Police and Crisis Teams launched in Prince Albert and North Battleford in October and November, aimed at improving front-line response to people experiencing a mental health crisis.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow