LANIGAN — The emergency department at the Lanigan Hospital, along with 11 others, will reopen to the public.
The announcement comes a few weeks after the initial closure of rural emergency departments as a part of the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA) COVID-19 surge plan.
The SHA will start by restoring previous levels of service in nine communities over the next four to six weeks. Arcola’s emergency department is expected to be the first to reopen, in mid-June, with Kerrobert, Herbert, Preeceville, Davidson, Wolseley, Arcola, Biggar, Leader and Oxbow to follow.
Lanigan, Broadview and Radville’s emergency departments are expected to require more time to reopen, the SHA said.
SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said the original plan was to create 12 COVID-19 free facilities within the 12 designated areas. Additionally, it was to free up capacity, train staff and ensure cohorting was done in those facilities to be better prepared in the event of a COVID-19 surge.
Premier Scott Moe said during a press conference May 26 there may have been a public perception that the emergency rooms would be permanently closed, which caused general concern.
“These have never been intended to be permanent closures. They have been temporary closures to allow the SHA as a whole to transition into a more holistic response to a COVID-19 surge,” Moe said.
Moe said he shares concerns with the public who have commented on the closure of emergency rooms in rural communities.
“I understand our health system has had to make some difficult decisions to prepare for the potential and possible surge of COVID-19 in our hospitals,” Moe said.
“Thanks to the actions of Saskatchewan people, our province has been able to avoid the kind of pressure in our hospital system that we have seen in other places of this nation,” he added.
Health Minister Jim Reiter said they could have done a better job communicating the point of the temporary closures of emergency rooms in rural communities.
“That is not the history of this government, that is not the case with any of these facilities,” Reiter said.
“This was according to the plan all along.”
