The Saskatchewan NDP opposition was in Moose Jaw on Friday to raise concerns about budget cuts to the province’s healthcare.
In front of the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital, Shadow Finance Minister Trent Wotherspoon showed page 27 of the document that outlined the forecasted expenses for healthcare in 2024-2025 at $8.022 billion. The budgeted amount for 2025-2026 is $8.004 billion, a cut of about $17.1 million.
In a press release on budget day, the Ministry of Health said it was an increase of 6.4 per cent over what was budgeted the previous year.
“They’re trying to make claims that they somehow increased funding. That’s not honest. That’s not true. People can see it. It’s in the black and white of their budget, and it’s not on for Saskatchewan people who know the real challenging situation healthcare finds itself in,” Wotherspoon responded.
The NDP is claiming the province is lagging behind in surgical wait times for knee replacements and hip replacements, hospital wait times, and the healthcare workforce.
Wotherspoon outlined what the opposition would be looking for from the provincial Sask. Party government.
“Very critically, we need to build the labour force and health professionals across this province, in communities small and large, to be able to deliver the healthcare that people need and deserve,” Wotherspoon said.
“What we wouldn’t be doing is spending 10 times more, as we see the Sask. Party doing, to send women to a private clinic in Calgary for basic healthcare like mammograms and breast biopsies.”
In particular, Wotherspoon said the cuts would affect services right here in Moose Jaw.
“This cut will do nothing but make care in Moose Jaw worse. It will do nothing to improve services here at the Wigmore Hospital, which have already been facing service challenges and blackouts,” Wotherspoon said.
In response, the Ministry of Health gave the following statement:
The opposition are cherry picking numbers to suit their own political narrative.
Budget increases or decreases are always based on the previous year’s budget allocation.
When comparing budget-to-budget, the 2024-25 Budget allocated $7.640 billion in funding for the Health expense theme, whereas the 2025-26 Budget allocated $8.004 billion in funding for the Health expense theme.
This is an increase of $365.1 million.
link