Many factors throughout the health system influence how long patients wait for care in the emergency department. There is compelling evidence that, of these factors, hospital overcrowding is one of the most significant.
From 2013 to 2020, the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council worked with partners such as the Ministry of Health to understand what changes are needed in our health system to aggressively reduce emergency department wait times. Housed at the Health Quality Council, the Emergency Department Waits and Patient Flow Initiative supported the provincial goal of achieving a 60% reduction in emergency wait times. A new provincial Connected Care Strategy emerged from the work of the Initiative, which was co-led by the Health Quality Council and the Ministry of Health. Initiatives from this work included Alternate Level of Care, Connected Care, Health System Modelling, and Interdisciplinary Bedside Rounding.
Current contact
This work is now a part of the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s Strategy & Innovation portfolio. For a current contact, please visit the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s website.