SASKATOON — An NDP MLA says her mother spent more than 100 hours waiting in a hospital hallway at Royal University Hospital after suffering a stroke, highlighting what the party calls ongoing pressures on Saskatchewan’s healthcare system.
Regina Rochdale MLA Joan Pratchler, sitting on a bench outside Royal University Hospital, held an informal media event on Thursday, March 12, to talk about what her mother experienced after being rushed to RUH due to a stroke.
Pratchler said her mother, who lives in Humboldt, was rushed to RUH on Sunday, March 8, but had to spend more than 100 hours in the hospital’s hallway along with other patients who were either waiting or not getting the care they deserved.
She added that her family travelled from Regina after receiving the call on Sunday morning that her mother had been taken to the hospital by ambulance. What followed, she said, was days spent waiting in an overcrowded emergency department while staff struggled with a lack of available beds.
She described hallways lined with patients on stretchers, some placed end-to-end as staff worked to manage the number of people waiting for care. The situation, she said, was reminiscent of conditions she encountered while working as a nurse overseas.
“As a nurse, I see it with different eyes. All the treatment rooms are full. There are stretchers in the hallways, against the walls and even near the nurses’ stations,” said Pratchler, who again highlighted the pressures facing hospitals across the province.
She said hospital staff even informed her that on the day her mother was rushed to RUH, they had already tended to 11 patients suffering from strokes who arrived at the emergency department that morning alone, adding to the pressure.
Pratchler added that patients are assessed in triage and treated by healthcare staff according to the urgency of their condition. However, those who need to be admitted have to wait, sometimes for days, as happened to her mother, since hospital wards are full.
“The demographics of our population are older, so you can expect more of these kinds of cases of stroke and elderly care. You can expect more as we have an aging population. So, what do we have to do? We have to be prepared for that,” said Pratchler.
She said the situation in Saskatchewan’s hospitals is not what any patient or family wants to experience. However, many people are experiencing it, reflecting broader pressures on Saskatchewan’s healthcare system, including growing demand for services driven by an aging population.
“I worked in Malawi in Africa and in northern India. People say music is a universal language, but packed beds like that, I’ve seen that in those places,” said Pratchler, who praised frontline workers who continue caring for patients despite difficult circumstances.
“The nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and even security staff are doing their very best. They’re trying to keep people’s spirits up while navigating the crowded environment. But they don’t have the resources they need,” she said.
Pratchler added that there is nothing special about the government’s recently announced healthcare reforms and staffing improvements, saying the plan has been the same one introduced three or four times now.
“I’ve been around a few years. They’ve had this same plan. Nurse practitioners are helping. If we have more of them, we could deliver better healthcare in this province. Talk is cheap, but action is what really matters.”
Government’s response
The government and the Saskatchewan Health Authority, in separate statements, stressed that they remain committed to providing high-quality, safe and accessible care to Saskatchewan residents, ensuring every patient receives the right care, in the right place, at the right time. The government added that they are saddened to hear of what happened to Pratchler’s mother and her illness.
“We are saddened to hear of MLA Pratchler’s mother’s illness and wish her and her family well as she receives care. Due to privacy legislation, we cannot comment on an individual’s specific care experience,” said the government’s statement.
The government added that addressing capacity pressures is its key priority, as outlined in the recently released Patients First Healthcare Plan, which includes adding 146 additional hospital beds in Saskatoon.
“This includes 129 acute beds, 11 ICU beds and 6 pediatric beds. This builds on the 132 hospital beds that have already been added in Saskatoon since 2018, including 40 new beds added at Saskatoon City Hospital this past year,” said the statement.
The SHA, in a separate statement, also acknowledged that Saskatoon’s hospitals are under pressure due to higher patient volumes.
“The SHA acknowledges that capacity pressures create a difficult environment for patients who are seeking care in our emergency departments, as well as for staff and paramedics who continue to provide excellent care,” said the statement.
“The SHA continues to take immediate action to address these capacity pressures by expanding acute care capacity and improving flow through Saskatoon hospitals. This includes SHA leaders connecting daily with teams, including emergency department staff and physicians, and enhancing emergency departments for patients accessing care.”
The SHA added that there are efforts to expand acute care capacity in Saskatoon, including adding 109 acute care inpatient beds at the city hospital. There are also 24 additional acute care beds and four ICU beds at St. Paul’s Hospital, and 36 acute care beds at RUH, as part of the Patients First plan, which will also help address capacity surges.
“The SHA remains committed to meeting the needs of patients as close to home as possible, including during periods of increased demand and ensuring that our care teams are properly supported in these high-demand situations. We want to take this opportunity to thank our staff and physicians for the work they do every day to help deliver that care,” the SHA said.
