The health department was the big winner in last week’s Saskatchewan budget.
Department spending was boosted $195 million for a total of $1.9 billion – the largest health expenditure ever and the largest among all government departments. The extra spending includes $67 million from Ottawa.
Provincial finance minister Eric Cline pledged the province will shorten waiting times for surgeries, improve access to cancer treatment and put more resources into women’s health needs.
Cline said the government “will do everything we can to recruit and retain the health- care providers we need.”
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
The budget contains $1.3 billion for salaries and benefits to health care-workers.
Other expenditures include:
- $12 million to improve elective surgery waiting times.
- $50 million to make sure health district computer technology is ready for 2000.
- $800,000 for women’s health.
- $3.2 million more for cancer programs.
- $5.2 million more for home care.
- $750,000 to expand rural dialysis sites and increase kidney transplants.
Rural residents will also see enhanced services through a mobile CT scanner, expanded outreach for cancer treatment and funding for 10 new mental health counsellors.
Citizens heeded
“Our citizens have told us they want action on finding and keeping our front-line health workers, on improving waiting times and on general health-care funding,” said health minister Pat Atkinson. “We have heard these messages and we have responded with targeted funding and realistic action plans.”
One uncertainty was the budget’s ability to prevent the 8,400 members of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses from strike action. SUN has been asking for $56 million over the life of a collective agreement to address wage equity issues, and was to be in a legal strike position March 31.
In other budget news, the government also increased education spending by three percent for the K-12 system and nearly 7.7 percent for post-secondary institutions. Operating funds for K-12 education increased $13.5 million to $397.5 million.
The province held capital funding steady at just over $24 million, to be spent on six major projects and 100 smaller initiatives.
Operating grants to the two universities went up about $3 million to $183.9 million.
