Shuffling health-care workers around won't solve COVID crisis: Sask. nurses' union president

The president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses says it appears the Saskatchewan Health Authority doesn't have decision-making authority anymore in how its workforce should be used, after Premier Scott Moe announced the province's COVID-19 response is being centralized through the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre.

"And are we going to be still operationalizing as we should, with evidence and medical expertise?" SUN president Tracy Zambory said Thursday.

Earlier that day, Premier Scott Moe announced his plans to centralize the province's COVID-19 response through the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre, an organization that is intended to streamline government response between ministries during what he called the "significant health-care challenge" presented by the pandemic.

The centre will be jointly led by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Ministry of Health. 

Saskatchewan's health-care system has been under significant strain during the fourth wave. Over the last month, the province has slowed down many hospital services in an attempt to free up resources to create more ICU beds. 

Moe said the new structure will free up management and administrative resources that could be used to directly treat patients, and is intended to address the challenge of "ensuring that we have the right people, the right equipment and resources in the right place at the right time."

But Zambory questioned whether the public safety agency's leadership has the expertise to manage the pandemic.