Wayne Busch
The Nokomis lab waiting room, until recently
November 20, 2021
Council Co-Chair Colleen McNichol wrote to the SHA on behalf of the Health Council. She said the council had been made aware of significant changes to services at the Nokomis Health Centre.
When LMT asked McNichol what those significant changes are she declined to expand on that, stating that they wanted to allow the SHA to address them first. The only item mentioned was a temporary wall separating the bathroom facilities and residents from the doctor, erected as a COVID-19 precaution.
“We have cooperated and worked together to fight the battle against COVID-19. Our facility and the thousands of people relying on it for their physician and for our residents who call The Nokomis Health Centre “home”- we need services reinstated and trust rebuilt,” the letter says.
In October, the SHA said there was no plan or intention to retract services in Nokomis, but services had been impacted because of the redeployment of health care workers to do COVID-related work.
The letter claims the SHA has not shared information with the council. And as a result, trust has been eroded because of a lack of communication and transparency.
“Council feels the SHA is failing our community and the 4000 patients that seek our Physician’s care in the surrounding region.”
Since sending the letter, McNichol said they received a response from the SHA’s Director of Primary Health Care SE with suggested dates for a meeting, and the Director had asked for an agenda.
We asked the SHA for a comment on the letter. They said, “The Saskatchewan Health Authority appreciates the valuable feedback from the Nokomis and Area Community Health Council. Without question, the pandemic and prevalence of COVID-19 in the province has changed the way we engage with communities stakeholders. The SHA will continue to engage with the local health council, including on the concerns expressed in its letter.”
A concerned member of the public, Wayne Busch, was at the most recent council meeting. He said there were six people in attendance. They discussed what they should be doing to try to get things back on track in Nokomis. They discussed lab services, the doctor’s office setting and some other services that need further investigation.
Busch said that people waiting for lab services were being made to wait outside with one chair outside the door. But recently, two chairs were brought inside for people to sit in the lab area.
Busch said he wanted to hear the three recipient's responses. “I know what’s going on there. People at the top end are just passing it on down and saying, ‘well let’s just move it on down the line, you go do the dirty work and listen to the complaints and then tell us what they are later and then we will move it back up the chain and see how we can deal or not deal with these things.’”
McNichol said that the meeting was without representation from the SHA and that Health Council meetings aren’t open to the public.
“...it is not in our best interests to go public at this time. If we do not get a satisfactory response to our concerns, we will certainly go public at that time.”
- Jenifer Argue, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Note: These reports may be abridged for content