Health care in crisis

ON THE FRONT-LINE: Lou-Ellen Murray expressed her concerns about health care to Premier Scott Moe at the town hall meeting in Maple Creek.

Rural Saskatchewan is facing a health care crisis, Premier Scott Moe was told at Friday’s town hall forum in Maple Creek.
Lou-Ellen Murray, a health care worker in the province for nearly 40 years, blamed the problem on “astronomical underfunding”.
“I’ve never seen a crisis like we are facing now where our hospitals are sitting closed because we don’t have people to work, and it’s not just the RNs (registered nurses).
“I am not an RN. I work with home care and I have never in all the years of my working have had to call so many people and say ‘I’m sorry, Mrs. X, we don’t have someone to help you … this morning. You are going to have to deal with it’.”
She added: “I’m a frontline worker and I face that on a day-to-day basis.”
Murray also mentioned health care wages, saying she had not received a significant increase in 30 years.
The poor remuneration in health care was a disincentive for young people to enter the profession, she added.
Her comments came at the Elks’ Hall where Moe and Cypress Hills MLA Doug Steele fielded questions and concerns from a crowd of about 65.
It was one of several public forums that Saskatchewan’s premier has been attending this summer.
Other topics discussed included the economy, agriculture, education, landfills, gas prices and declining rural populations.
In his opening remarks, Moe, a member of the Legislative Assembly for the riding of Rosthern-Shellbrook, had given an upbeat assessment on Saskatchewan’s economic wellbeing, saying the province was on the threshold of great opportunities.
He touched on health care, pledging more investment.
“Health care is an area that we have invested in heavily,” he said. “We are going to continue to invest in. I see a facility in this community that was built around the same time that we built the facility in the community where I live.”
The Premier’s positive tone, however, did not always match that struck by audience members.
Murray, a senior scheduler for home care for the former Cypress Health Region, said people were aware of the huge costs of universal health care.
“I have never seen such astronomical underfunding, however, to the point now that we are in a crisis in health care. I can only speak to rural Saskatchewan because that is my experience.”
Moe and Steele were thanked for holding a public forum.
“I really, really appreciate you guys coming to talk to us,” said Murray. “Whether I vote for you or not is another thing. I really appreciate you being here and listening to me.
“I’ve never had a government official from your government or any other government come to me as a worker and say ‘hey girl, why aren’t people going into health care? Why are we short of nurses? Why don’t we have CCAs (continuing care assistants)?’”
Another good question was this: Why aren’t people in the community coming to work in the hospital to clean the floors, even though that used to be considered a very good job?
Murray said it had been a struggle to obtain benefits.
“I fought to get into that hospital so I could have a pension, and health care for myself. However, I didn’t have health care for the first 14 years. Healthcare workers in Saskatchewan had to fight for health care. I’ve got it now and I appreciate it.”
Murray spoke up for the Southwest Integrated Healthcare Facility.
“I love my boss, we have an amazing manager in our facility and we have a gorgeous facility. Thank you very much, but a building is nothing without people working in it. And if it is sitting there empty and we cannot provide the services that our elderly people need that is a crying shame, isn’t it?
“There isn’t a person in this room, regardless of how you vote, who won’t use health care in this province. So, we have to invest in it. I haven’t had a significant increase in my wages for 30 years.
“It has not come even close to the cost of living. And it’s getting worse.”
Murray said health care had not benefited from boom time in the province.
“A decade ago, I got 1 per cent. Woohoo, okay, where is the trickledown there? We are investing in our communities, we are investing in our province, everybody is getting big money, where is it coming? Not in my pocket …”
Murray spoke of the dedication shown daily by health care workers.
“Now, we are rural people here and when we go to work – and I’m going to say this out loud – we are working with a bunch of ladies mostly. Most of the ladies … I would say over 80 per cent are farm wives, ranch wives. They come into work, they drive 20 kilometres, they drive 30 kilometres, drive 75 kilometres, they give up their Christmases, they give up their children’s birthdays to come and care for your families and the appreciation they get is diddly squat.”
Murray said the problems in health care were a “monster of our own creation”.
Moe said he appreciated Murray’s comments, adding that the problems she referred to were applicable across the country.
“We need to consult with folks on the front line,” he said.
Moe said his government needed to do a better job in listening to those at the sharp end of health care.
After the meeting, Murray, who started working in 1984, told the News-Times that the problems in health care predated the COVID-19 pandemic. She said her co-workers were exhausted, adding that she had nothing but praise for health care administrators in Maple Creek: Melissa Schwab and Ashley Nash.

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