Premier Scott Moe unveiled a province-wide strategy to address the state of the province’s health care system Monday morning.

The Patients First Health Care Plan claims to include 50 actions to ensure patients are receiving the care they need. Moe says the Province has been “listening to Saskatchewan residents and the two main concerns we have heard are that people want access to a primary care provider, and they want diagnostics and surgeries in a timelier manner,” two measures he claims the plan will bring to action.

Some specific examples of initiatives promised in the plan include the addition of 26 new nurse practitioner training seats in the province, completing renovations and staffing for 69 more beds at Saskatoon City Hospital, staff and open 24 more acute care beds and four ICU beds at St. Paul’s Hospital, open six pediatric beds at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital, open 36 acute care beds at Royal University Hospital, expand ICU capacity by seven beds at Royal University Hospital. The strategy also lays out a plan to staff and open three additional NICU beds at Regina General Hospital, and complete construction on the Prince Albert Victoria Hospital adding 57 acute care beds to the community.

In terms of training, the Province vows to add 20 more medical training seats at the College of Medicine – increasing from 108 to 128, add 10 more residency seats, and increased post-secondary seats for primary care paramedic training from 152 to 252 since 2023.

NDP Leader Carla Beck says she’s seen this plan before, over ten years ago when it was rolled out the first time. Beck claims the Province is reannouncing the plan from 2012, when Brad Wall released the Patient First Transformation and Innovation Strategy.

Beck adds that the plan wasn’t successful then, as it promised that every resident would gain access to a family doctor, and it won’t be now, either.