REGINA – A group of more than 50 Preeceville, Sask. residents descended on the legislative building Wednesday to protest the upcoming closure of ER services in that town.
READ MORE: ER services to be suspended in Preeceville, Sask.
A fiery debate took place in question period as the opposition NDP slammed the Saskatchewan party in front of the concerned residents.
“They got a hospital and now it’s a bigger place, it serves not just Preeceville but a broader area and they need acute and emergency services there.”
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The premier defended what the province has done to protect rural health care.
According to the Saskatchewan government, the Rural Family Physician Incentive Program pays $120K over 5 years to recently graduated physicians who practice in a community of 10,000 people or less.
READ MORE: Saskatchewan getting better at convincing new doctors to stick around
However, talk of incentives are not quelling concerns for the residents affected most.
“Everybody in our whole community, surrounding area, they’ve fundraised huge dollars. $3.5 million was fundraised,” Preeceville resident Tammy Pantiuk said.
“We want it, we deserve it.”
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