Sask. to start covering part of cost of transporting sick kids out of province

Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health will now provide financial assistance for children and their families who need to travel outside the province for necessary medical procedures.

It's a change to what Health Minister Everett Hindley called a "long-standing policy" of the provincial government.

"The procedures themselves are are covered, but travel and accommodations and those sorts of costs are not covered," Hindley said, last week. 

The policy change comes about a week after a family travelled to the provincial legislature from Saskatoon asking for help.

In 2020, Zachary Engen was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis, a chronic condition that causes inflammation and contraction of the esophagus. 

The 15-year-old requires a gastronomy tube to eat and struggles to even swallow water.

Until recently, Engen had a pediatric gastroenterologist in Saskatchewan, but after they closed their practice the family is now forced to travel to Toronto for treatment.

Alyssa Weber, Engen's mother, said trips to Toronto for treatment are, "now necessary, but not financially sustainable."

"My husband can't work because of injury," she said. "We have three other children at home. We're travelling, leaving them behind or with family, because we have to travel to Toronto with our son."

Hindley announced this week that the province will now cover up to $2,000 per trip.

He admitted that many of the details of the program will need to be worked out, but said Saskatchewan will model it after what is offered in other provinces.

"If it's determined that this is necessary for the child, for the patient, that this is something that needs to happen and it can't be done here in in Saskatchewan and that child needs to be sent outside of our borders to get that necessary care, that would be part of the criteria," Hindley said Wednesday.

The change will be retroactive to April 1, 2024.