Provincial health authority office set for Saskatoon

May 9, 2017, 11:08 am

On Monday, May 8, Health Minister Jim Reiter and Rural and Remote Health Minister Greg Ottenbreit announced the head office for the new provincial health authority will be located in Saskatoon.

The first day of operations for the health authority is being determined, but is still anticipated to occur in fall 2017.

“A number of locations for the head office were considered, and all would have been a good fit for the new health authority and the people of Saskatchewan,” Reiter said. “Saskatoon will be the location of the head office because it is more centrally located in the province, is close to the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, and will be in close proximity to the new Children’s Hospital.”

While the head office space will be located in Saskatoon, jobs will continue to be located throughout Saskatchewan. A distributed executive leadership model will be established with senior management in Regina, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw, and other major communities across the province.
The ministers also announced that the name of the new provincial organization will be ‘Saskatchewan Health Authority’.

“The new Saskatchewan Health Authority must have a strong connection to people and local communities,” Ottenbreit said. “Management and support services will continue to be located across the province to support the delivery of high quality and consistent frontline health care services for Saskatchewan people, wherever they live.”

Work has already begun to build the Information Technology infrastructure to support the work of approximately 43,000 employees, including a website and network and email accounts. The transition of the existing 12 regional health authorities to a single provincial health authority will increase efficiencies and reduce duplication in the health system.

The potential savings associated with amalgamation are currently estimated in the range of $10-20 million by 2018-19.