'It’s time for action': Sask. EMS receives small portion of budget's healthcare increase
CTV
Saskatchewan’s 2023-24 budget highlighted healthcare as one of its main priorities, with Emergency Medical Services getting a small cut of the new funding.
Saskatchewan’s 2023-24 budget highlighted healthcare as one of its main priorities, with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) getting a small cut of the new funding.
The budget allocates $8.8 million to enhance EMS in rural and remote areas, support contracted EMS operators and upgrade systems and radios.
The budget delivers total health spending of $7.1 billion. The Ministry of Health received an increase of $431 million this year, for a $6.9 billion budget.
“It’s a great budget for ground EMS. It doesn’t meet everything 100 per cent, but that can’t happen over night,” Steven Skoworodko, the president of the Paramedic Services Chiefs of Saskatchewan (PSCS), said.
“Where they’ve allocated the money to go to in this budget, it’ll really help support retention. Some of that money is targeted towards an increase in funding so rural services can pay more and fund those positions so that the paramedics do want to stay in rural Saskatchewan.”
The PSCS highlighted three areas it wanted to see targeted in this year’s budget: supporting paramedic recruitment and retention, more operational funding and improving patient offload delays.
Skoworodko said he feels those were all addressed, but would like to see more help with the increased costs of operating ambulances in the future.
