Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2022
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2022
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
News

Birthplace of medicare braces for more health care reform

Amy Jo Ehman
CMAJ January 22, 2002 166 (2) 234;
Amy Jo Ehman
Saskatoon
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

A sigh of relief was heard across rural Saskatchewan Dec. 5 after the provincial government announced it will not be shutting 50 small hospitals. Their closure had been recommended in a comprehensive review of the province's medicare system completed last April.

Saskatchewan premier Lorne Calvert said that recommendation was too disruptive and would not save much money. “If we were to select 20 of our smallest community hospitals and close them, I'm told the savings would [amount to] about $14 million. That represents about 2 days of funding for the department of health.”

But Calvert did adopt many of the less controversial recommendations contained in the report, which was prepared by Kenneth Fyke, a former deputy minister of health in Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Included in the new Action Plan for Saskatchewan Health Care is the creation of primary health care teams — physicians, nurses, mental health professionals, social workers and other health providers — that will serve rural communities. Doctors who voluntarily join a team will be on a contract or salary, rather than receiving fee-for-service payments.

Dr. Bev Karras, president of the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA), said this is not a novel approach because many physicians already work in teams. “It is essential that [the SMA be involved] before the programs are implemented,” she said. “Physicians must have a choice and must be able to feel comfortable with the work arrangements, and that would include how they are paid.”

The SMA had criticized the Fyke report because its authors had not consulted physicians, particularly those in rural practice.

Saskatchewan currently spends almost 40% of its budget on health care, a total of $2.2 billion in 2001.

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

CMAJ
Vol. 166, Issue 2
22 Jan 2002
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Birthplace of medicare braces for more health care reform
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Birthplace of medicare braces for more health care reform
Amy Jo Ehman
CMAJ Jan 2002, 166 (2) 234;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Birthplace of medicare braces for more health care reform
Amy Jo Ehman
CMAJ Jan 2002, 166 (2) 234;
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Longer family medicine residency: Boon or bane to doctor supply?
  • The evolving picture of long COVID
  • When are shared decisions false choices?
Show more News

Similar Articles

Collections

  • Topics
    • Health policy

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
  • Accessibiity
  • CMA Civility Standards
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2022, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: cmajgroup@cmaj.ca

Powered by HighWire