Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill. (Marija Robinson/980 CJME)

By Susan McNeil

Health information

SHA promises better notification on emergency service disruption

Oct 30, 2025 | 2:19 PM

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is planning changes to how the public learns about disruptions of emergency health care services.

In a press release on Oct. 30, the SHA said that all emergency service disruptions will be posted on their website ‘starting in early November’.

“The SHA is committed to providing patients, families and communities with reliable and accurate information about the availability of emergency services, and we acknowledge frustrations from patients and communities about our current reporting process,” said Derek Miller, Chief Operating Officer of the SHA in a news release.

“These changes will ensure that accurate and reliable information about service availability will be consistently available to the public while our teams work to restore emergency services impacted by temporary disruptions.”

Updates will happen daily at 4 p.m., every day of the week.

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Meanwhile, the NDP also issued a statement Thursday saying that the province is falling behind on how it manages health services, pointing to data they obtained through Freedom of Information requests that show 86 hospital closures between February 2018 and July 2019.

They said that was also the first 18 months of Scott Moe’s premiership.

More recently, the number increased to 643 in the 18 months between November 2023 to May 2025– an eight-fold increase.

“Someone in need of care is going to show up to a closed emergency room and die as a result,” said Jared Clarke, NDP Shadow Minister for Rural and Remote Health. “It’s only a matter of time — unless the Sask. Party and the SHA do something.

“I’ve heard from so many constituents of Sask. Party MLAs who want the government to be more transparent and stop closing their ERs. I hope that Sask. Party MLAs seriously consider breaking with the party line and supporting The Provincial Health Authority (ER Closure right-to-know) Amendment Act.”

The province said that the SHA does what it can to maintain emergency services whenever possible and temporary disruptions are a last resort. Often they are due to staff or doctor vacancies, unplanned absences, scheduled vacations or upgrades.

Once the site is activated, the public will see an alphabetical list of all SHA facilities that are having a disruption. The same information will be updated on the facility’s individual page.

Previously, disruptions were posted if they lasted seven days or more.

Patients are being warned, however, that sometimes disruptions happen with very short notice and in those cases, they may not appear on the website immediately but signs will be posted at the facility and then included in the next update.

Healthline (811) will have real-time information and callers have access to the registered nurses and other health professionals that work there.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com