The Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) welcomes the new investments in health care announced yesterday. Additional resources are certainly a critical part of putting our health care system back on a solid footing.

We are pleased that primary care is one of the priority areas earmarked for separate bilateral agreements to be struck with individual provinces, and would like to see a significant portion of this new funding invested in primary care reforms that address the access challenges patients are facing.

New ways of working will be required to meet these access challenges and the changing and more complex needs of our population.

Integrated, interdisciplinary primary care teams — where family physicians work together with nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, and other health professionals — will be key to improving access for patients, delivering quality care, and enabling positive work environments.

Research shows that longitudinal care in the community leads to better health outcomes, improved quality of life, and lower overall health system costs. Longitudinal care refers to patients receiving all of their non-hospital care from the same provider(s) over time, so the team gets to know their health history.

The SMA urges political leaders to work swiftly and collaboratively to advance necessary improvements in our health care system.

Time is of the essence.  People are suffering as they await care and those providing care – physicians and other health professionals – need supports that will lessen the struggles they experience working in an underfunded system.

We look forward to learning more about pending new investments in primary care that are part of the new agreement.

Dr. John Gjevre
President, Saskatchewan Medical Association