The Saskatchewan government has announced that it will provide twice-daily updates on emergency room closures, a move the Opposition NDP says does not go far enough. Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill stated that the change is part of delivering innovative solutions to address service disruptions and overcrowding in emergency rooms across the province.
New Reporting Schedule
Starting May 19, the Saskatchewan Health Authority will post updates at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., or as soon as practically possible, regarding disruptions to emergency services. Previously, since November, only one daily update was provided at 4 p.m. on the SHA website. Before that, the SHA only posted service disruptions lasting seven days or more.
“It is important for Saskatchewan people to have reliable and timely information on health care service availability in their community,” Cockrill said.
NDP Demands More
The NDP argues that twice-daily updates are insufficient. Rural and remote health critic Jared Clarke introduced Bill 606 last fall, which would require public notification of an ER closure within one hour. The private member’s bill was voted down by the Saskatchewan Party on Thursday.
“I simply don’t buy that this government is able to track snowplows down to the minute but can apparently only update the public on ER closures twice a day,” Clarke said. “This is about basic transparency for rural residents — residents the Sask. Party represents. Why would they keep this information from them? We know that this is something the government tracks. We also know that in an emergency, every minute counts. Knowing whether an ER is open or closed can be the difference between life and death.”
Government Response
Cockrill acknowledged that real-time updates are not currently feasible but said the government is working toward that goal. Last year, the SHA stated it would be “continuing system improvements with a goal of providing real-time, public updates regarding the status of emergency service disruptions.”
The provincial government and SHA have recognized staffing shortages, hallway medicine, ongoing capacity issues, and notification delays. In October, the union representing Saskatchewan nurses described massive overcrowding at Royal University Hospital as routine. Earlier this year, the NDP called for changes after the Watrous emergency room closed nearly 100 times in 2025. In August, the SHA claimed for four days that the Herbert emergency department was open, when it had actually been closed for two months.
Last fall, the NDP cited SHA data obtained through a freedom of information request showing 643 emergency service closures between November 2023 and May 2025.
