June 12, 2024

Saskatchewan now has the Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency dedicated to the recruitment of health-care workers, and new funding will be directed to physician recruitment and retention initiatives.

Our government is providing significant investment to expand and enhance programming targeted to recruiting and retaining physicians, including expanded medical residency seats, increased Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment (SIPPA) placements and a new mentorship and support program to help address long-term retention of physicians assessed through SIPPA. This will address long-term and immediate recruitment. In 2024-25, the Ministry of Health (Ministry) is providing additional funding to SIPPA to increase seats by six to eight over the current cohort of 45 annually. Through SIPPA, 304 additional doctors are now providing service in the province; the vast majority (77 per cent) are in a rural or a regional community.

Community placements for SIPPA physicians are determined through a ranking process, with the highest priority receiving placements more urgently from the SIPPA cohort soonest. Each community can put forward the request for a SIPPA placement through the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and these requests are ranked and considered based on the urgency and disruption to the community. While each community can put forward a request for placement, all requests are evaluated provincially to determine the highest priority.

Fourteen new SIPPA candidates started the assessment in March 2024 and should complete the assessment in May 2024. Upon successful completion, these physicians will be placed in rural and remote communities across the province.

A new physician services agreement was ratified in February 2024, which includes a record setting increase in on-going funding for physician services and initiatives of approximately $245 million. The agreement includes general rate increases and investments in recruitment and retention programs to ensure Saskatchewan remains competitive amid a challenging national and international labor landscape.
The new agreement also includes:

• introduction of a new primary care payment model for family physicians that unifies existing volume-based pay with a new capitation payment, allowing more time to deal with complex patient issues and an increased focus on preventive care. This investment of more than $50 million in annual funding will support a transformation of primary care in Saskatchewan;
• an Innovation Fund of up to $10 million annually over the duration of the agreement, which will increase team-based care in primary health care settings, resulting in health-care providers working to the top of their scope and improving access to primary care in the province;
• permanent funding for After-Hours and Urgent Care programs providing additional funding to community-based family physicians who provide after-hours care, resulting in increased access to primary care and reduced reliance on emergency departments;
• funding to address gender pay inequity in physician fee codes;
• new funding to support physician training and awareness related to equity, diversity, racism, and truth and reconciliation;
• a new Rural and Northern Practice Recognition Premium recognizing the unique nature and critical importance of rural medicine; and
• continuation of virtual care as insured services to ensure efficient access to health services for patients and reduce unnecessary travel for appropriate services.

We understand the importance of NP services in supporting better access to high quality primary health care in the province. Saskatchewan has been successful in integrating NPs into primary health care teams to work alongside physicians and other health-care professionals in various health-care settings. The majority of Saskatchewan NPs work in primary care clinics while some work in acute care (such as neonatal intensive care) and ambulatory care settings, and in community programs as educators and administrators.

In 2024-25, our government is investing $500,000 to pilot a new model for independently operated, publicly funded NP clinics and will also create 25 new NP positions in the SHA in rural and regional communities. We will continue to pursue opportunities to further utilize NPs to support the needs of Saskatchewan residents.

We recognize that there is a health-care worker shortage affecting all provinces and territories. Our government continues to assess and seek solutions to help with the province’s health human resource challenges in several ways that will assist with staff recruitment and retention. We are investing $142 million in this year’s budget to support our Health Human Resources Action Plan to recruit, train, and retain health-care workers, including $85 million for Ministry of Health initiatives. The Action Plan aims to stabilize services and increase the health workforce in Saskatchewan and ease stressors on existing staff.

Investments to improve recruitment and retention of health-care providers for rural and remote communities, include:

• $33.8 million for 250 new full-time positions and enhancement of part-time positions to full-time hours in nine high priority classifications in rural and northern locations;
• $3.1 million for a travel pool of registered nurses in rural and remote locations;
• $4.0 million for the Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive Program, to provide up to $50,000 to at least 200 new employees in nine high priority classifications in priority locations; and
• $400,000 for student final clinical placement bursaries to students in health-care disciplines in exchange for a one-year return of service in a rural or remote community.

Hon. Tim McLeod – Minister of Mental Health nd Addictions, Seniors and Rural and Remote Health, Government of Saskatchewan