REGINA – Opposition critics say $27.8 million isn’t nearly enough to repair aging hospital and long-term care infrastructure in Saskatchewan.
NDP leader Cam Broten pointed to a report released in July 2014 that pegged the bill to repair health facilities at $2.2 billion, based on visual inspections completed the year prior. The Opposition expects that number has grown.
“I’ve been to care facilities in rural Saskatchewan with duct tape on the floor keeping the linoleum from rolling up,” Broten said. “These are all real examples of how this government needs to pay attention to the problem and come forward with a real plan to address it.”
The 2015 Saskatchewan budget allocation for ‘maintenance and facility regeneration’ is just over one per cent of the need identified in the report, prepared by Vanderweil Facility Assessors (VFA).
In question period Wednesday, Broten quoted internal briefing notes the NDP acquired via freedom of information requests which said the greatest challenge facing Saskatchewan is “maintaining and adapting” current health infrastructure, rather than expansion.
Ministry of health spokesperson Pauline Rousseau said this year’s maintenance funding is up 20 per cent from 2014.
“Infrastructure in Saskatchewan is no different than the rest of Canada or the rest of North America,” Rousseau said.”We have a number of facilities built in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. They have maintenance issues.”
The VFA report acts as a guide to health regions in prioritizing repairs, she said.
The report assessed 270 health facilities, including hospitals and seniors homes. The repair backlog was more than $935 million in the Saskatoon Health Region, with a $515 million price tag in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region.
Comments