Opinion: Bold changes that could save money for Saskatchewan’s health system

By Dom Lucyk

REGINA, SK – 28th July 2025 – Saskatchewan’s healthcare system, like many across Canada, faces perennial challenges: escalating costs, an ageing population, and the ever-present demand for higher quality care. While incremental adjustments are routinely made, it’s increasingly clear that only bold, transformative changes will truly secure its financial sustainability and enhance patient outcomes. This opinion piece outlines several strategic shifts that could unlock significant savings and improve efficiency across the province’s health services.

Firstly, a radical re-evaluation of our primary care model is long overdue. The traditional fee-for-service model often incentivises volume over comprehensive, preventative care. Shifting towards a team-based, patient-centred funding model—such as capitation with incentives for positive outcomes—could be revolutionary. This would encourage family doctors, nurse practitioners, and allied health professionals to work collaboratively, focusing on chronic disease management, preventative screenings, and keeping patients out of acute care. Imagine reducing emergency room visits by 10-15% through proactive community care; the savings in hospital bed days alone would be immense.

Secondly, embracing digital health and virtual care beyond post-pandemic necessity must become a foundational pillar. While progress has been made, a fully integrated digital health record system accessible to all providers across the province is paramount. This would eliminate redundant tests, improve communication between specialists and family doctors, and reduce administrative overhead. Expanding virtual consultations, remote monitoring for chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, heart failure), and digital mental health services could significantly cut down on travel costs for rural patients and ease the burden on specialist clinics. Investing heavily in these platforms now will yield dividends for decades.

Thirdly, a critical look at pharmaceutical procurement and prescribing habits is essential. Saskatchewan, along with other provinces, often pays higher prices for medications compared to many other developed nations. Joining forces with other provinces, or even exploring more aggressive bulk purchasing strategies and a robust provincial formulary focused on cost-effectiveness, could save millions. Furthermore, investing in pharmacist-led medication reviews and deprescribing initiatives for elderly patients could reduce polypharmacy, adverse drug events, and associated hospital admissions.

Fourthly, a fundamental shift towards preventative health and wellness programs needs to occur, moving resources upstream. While challenging to quantify immediate savings, investing in public health initiatives focused on nutrition, physical activity, and smoking cessation will reduce the incidence of preventable chronic diseases in the long term. This means fewer heart attacks, strokes, diabetes complications, and cancers—all major cost drivers for the health system. Programs tailored to high-risk populations, delivered in community settings, could be particularly impactful.

Finally, confronting the sustainability of our infrastructure is unavoidable. While new hospitals are necessary, optimising the use of existing facilities and exploring innovative care delivery models outside traditional hospital walls can be highly effective. This might include expanding community-based rehabilitation centres and urgent care clinics to divert non-emergencies from ERs or even leveraging home-care technology for post-operative recovery. Rationalising the use of high-cost hospital beds for patients who could be managed in lower-acuity settings will free up resources and capacity.

These are not minor adjustments; they are bold, structural reforms that require political courage, inter-sectoral collaboration, and public buy-in. The initial investment in some areas, particularly digital infrastructure, will be significant. However, the alternative—a continuously strained, reactive health system struggling to meet the demands of its citizens—is a far more costly and undesirable future for Saskatchewan. By making these strategic, long-term decisions now, the province can build a more resilient, efficient, and financially sustainable health system for generations to come.