On April 15, Opposition leader Carla Beck stood outside the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital alongside Taylor Enns – president of the Moose Jaw Firefighters Association and Brayden Dutchak – whose mother is a cancer survivor, to call on the Sask. Party government to reopen the provinces’ only hyperbaric chamber in Moose Jaw.
“Families, health care workers, and firefighters worked so hard to open this hyperbaric chamber. The people of Moose Jaw did their part, but Beck said the government has not held up their end of the bargain.
Beck argued that the Sask. Party government has not focused its attention on the issues that matter most, with health care listed as one primary area of concern.
Dutchak is the son of cancer survivor Tamara Heppner and an outspoken advocate for the reopening of the hyperbaric chamber in Moose Jaw.
“It saved my mom’s life. She was told she was going to die without the treatment,” he said.
When Dutchak contacted the office of the Health Minister to address the situation, he was told to consider applying for extended medical insurance to cover the transfer to Edmonton. He pointed out the impossibility of this request, stating that no insurance provider is going to agree to this given his mother’s medical history.
“We have in-patient treatment, out-patient treatment, and out-of-luck patient treatment,” he declared out of frustration.
Dutchak was told by the government that the hospital is short one staff member to allow the reopening of the hyperbaric chamber. In response, he said the chamber has been operated with a staff of three specialists while his mom received temporary care, as well as in the past.
Heppner’s seventh treatment has recently been bumped back to accommodate another patient with carbon monoxide poisoning. This indicates an ongoing need for the device, and Dutchak pointed out a list of 14 patients who are currently eligible for care.
“You really can save lives (with the hyperbaric chamber),” Dutchak said. “And the issue is people are dying because something is not available (locally).”
The address follows a previous decision by the Sask. Party government to close Saskatchewan’s only operating hyperbaric chamber back in 2021.
“When they closed, they said that this closure would be temporary,” Beck said. “But it’s been three years, and people are tired of empty promises.”
The hyperbaric chamber first opened in 2015 following months of pressure from the community and with the help of a fundraising drive by Moose Jaw’s firefighters who raised $850,000 in support of the life-saving device. In addition, local paramedics raised another $50,000 for what the Wall government called “the main showpiece” at the then newly constructed Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital.
“To hear that (the hyperbaric chamber) hasn’t been in use to its full extent since 2021 is disappointing to us (firefighters) and the people of Saskatchewan,” Enns said.
The hyperbaric chamber provides life-saving oxygen treatment to burn victims, cancer patients, and others, and – despite having a fully functional device right here in Moose Jaw – patients must travel to Edmonton or Toronto for care following its closure.
“We need to hire more health care workers and end the culture of burnout and fear that drives health care workers out of our province,” Rural and Remote Health Critic Jared Clarke said.
The Saskatchewan NDP said its position would be to reopen the hyperbaric chamber in Moose Jaw.
The Opposition pointed out that, since 2019, emergency rooms, laboratories, operating theatres, and other medical services have closed at 53 hospitals and health centres across the province under the Sask. Party government.
The Moose Jaw Express has reached out to the Sask. Party for comments and will follow up once a response has been received.
