DARYL HOFMANN
News Writer

Saskatchewan residents want the government to slow increasing surgical wait times through hospitals, rather than private for-profit clinics.

This knowledge results from a survey commissioned by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which was conducted in December by Winnipeg firm, Viewpoints Research. It included 602 residents from across the province.

“Our Viewpoints survey shows Saskatchewan people clearly want the government to build the surgical capacity of our public system,” says CUPE Saskatchewan President Tom Graham.

The results of the poll show 60 per cent of respondents believe the key to solving increasing surgical wait times is through direct investment in public hospital services, while 24 per cent support the Wall government’s decision to fund privatized clinics.

Last year, the Saskatchewan Party chose to postpone the construction of a new out-patient surgical centre in Regina which was originally drawn-up by the NDP in 2007. The centre, which was projected to cost $14 million, was scheduled to be operational in 2010. Instead, $5.5 million in government spending was re-directed to private surgical clinics.

CUPE Saskatchewan said the majority of residents polled in the Viewpoints survey are critical of the Sask Party’s decision not to build the day-surgery centre in Regina.

According to a Fraser Institute report, wait times for surgeries nationwide rose to an average of 18.2 weeks in 2010, up from 16.1 weeks in 2009. In Saskatchewan, median wait times increased to 26.5 weeks, up from 25.2 weeks in 2009.

Graham is urging the Sask Party government to show commitment to the health care system by restoring funding to the public surgical centre in the upcoming 2011-12 budget. The budget is regularly announced in March.

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image: Flickr