Kamsack, Sask., rally organizer says rural hospital service shutdowns are 'life and death' matter

Residents of the Kamsack, Sask., area may now need to drive half an hour or more for hospital care, as staffing shortages have led to the closure of the last local acute care bed and shut down of other services at the town's hospital. 

Kamsack is about 350 kilometres east of Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority let community members know that as of Wednesday, inpatient and some emergency services at the Kamsack Hospital had been put on hold until further notice. The emergency department at the hospital will only be open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST.

Beyond that, residents will have to travel to Canora, or a more distant town like Yorkton, Wadena or Kelvington, the advisory said.

The announcement caused a stir in the community that boiled over into the area outside the hospital Thursday morning, as provincial politicians spoke with residents rallying for a government response. 

"We never really got any answers from them,"  said Betty Dix, the co-organizer of the event and a former mayor of the town, after the rally. "We just got a hope and a promise. Not even a promise, just a hope."

DIx estimates hundreds of thousands of people move through the region each year, including through its provincial parks, and is concerned that if there's a disaster, people will have to drive hours to receive medical care — or wait for an air ambulance.

"This is the busiest time of the year, more than winter, for this area and we don't have a bed. That's pretty scary," she said. 

"It's life and death, that's what we've come down to."

Dix said the government needs to step up and fix the problem.

Linda Osachoff, a long-time administrative health care employee who has worked in the Kamsack Hospital, was at the rally Thursday.

Osachoff said the crowd was full of passionate people concerned their hospital would close permanently. She said it felt like the government was "a dollar short and a day late," appearing only after the last acute care bed was lost.

"You might think money is the solution, but it's actually accountability and planning," she said, adding the province needs to make rural locations more attractive for professionals seeking jobs.

Kamsack Mayor Nancy Brunt said there's a shortage of both nursing and lab staff. She said people have retired or taken jobs elsewhere in bigger cities, reducing staff at what she says is one of the busiest hospitals in the region.