REGINA - The Opposition NDP exploded against the government at the legislature Tuesday over a confidential memo that they say was aimed at muzzling health care workers.
The issue was raised by the NDP at their news conference that morning, in which Opposition Health Critic Vicki Mowat and Opposition Critic Meara Conway pointed to what Mowat characterized as a “confidential hush memo” from a health service manager at Saskatchewan Health Authority on Feb. 7.
The memo was sent out on the same day that Mowat and Matt Love were in Lanigan for their provincial Healthcare Solutions and Consultation Outreach tour. The memo issued to Lanigan hospital employees that same day read:
“Please be advised that we are not to coordinate tours or answer questions about our facilities to any political parties. If any MLAs or members of a political party request information from Lanigan Integrated Hospital, please direct them to the process.”
“We’re in a national competition to hire and retain healthcare workers,” said Mowat. “And other provinces have more and attractive and ambitious healthcare plans. What message does that send to Saskatchewan health care workers who are thinking of leaving for other provinces? ‘Don’t speak out or there will be repercussions.’ ‘No one is listening.’ ‘Your voice doesn’t matter.’ That’s the message from Scott Moe’s tired and out of touch Sask Party government, that’s the message that they’re sending to healthcare workers with this hush memo.”
In Question Period that afternoon, Mowat and Conway took turns as they roasted the government over the memo. Minister of Health Paul Merriman pushed back, however, and rejected the notion the memo was aimed at silencing health care workers. Portions of the animated exchanges are below as recorded in Hansard.
Ms. Mowat: — “…Why did the SHA memo telling health care workers not to answer questions, happen on the same day of our health care solutions tour being in town?”
The Deputy Speaker: — “I recognize the Minister of Health.”
Hon. Mr. Merriman: — “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the SHA does have a process in place to make sure that these tours are coordinated in a safe way. MLAs can’t just roll up to a facility and walk through and have a tour. We have patient safety. We have integrity. We have HIPA [The Health Information Protection Act] restrictions, Mr. Speaker.
If they wanted to be able to tour a facility, Mr. Speaker, they can go tour that facililty… Mr. Speaker, they’ve been on tours. We are not restricting their access in any way, shape, or form. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
….
Ms. Mowat: — "No, you’re just silencing health care workers from talking to us when we’re around, Mr. Speaker… Why are they sending memos to silence health care workers from speaking out?"
Hon. Mr. Merriman: — “Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if the member opposite could torque that any more. We didn’t send the memo. It was sent by the SHA. Never directed from my office, never directed from this building, Mr. Speaker.”
Merriman then pointed to a more generalized memo sent out by the SHA the day before to all SHA facilities. The indication is the Lanigan memo sent out to their staff the next day was based on that memo.
Regarding the more generalized memo, Merriman read it out in the Assembly.
Hon. Mr. Merriman: — “It said: ‘At times during the year, the SHA gets a high number of requests for tours of our facilities from elected members of the Legislative Assembly. They can create clinical and operational challenges if not coordinated properly. There are also opportunities for efficiencies when coordinating approach to taking these types of tours by helping avoid as much as possible multiple requests by our team.
‘That is why we ask that should a political party and/or office or a member of the legislative reach out to the facility or individual directly, please contact the SHA for coordination prior to their arrival.’
"This is the memo that went out to all SHA facilities, Mr. Speaker, and I hope the members opposite would abide by it."
Ms. Mowat: — “Mr. Speaker, this was Lanigan the morning we were there. Let’s be very clear about the fact that this is not a coincidence. This wasn’t the whole SHA. This is a targeted decision of interference with the . . . with the minister’s office, Mr. Speaker."
Hon. Mr. Merriman: — “Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is very animated about this. I read out in the record what the SHA memo that went from head office out to all the facilities, to make sure that our facilities coordinate this, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of patient safety, to make sure we’re protecting their dignity. I have to do that myself, Mr. Speaker. So does the Minister of Rural and Remote Health.
“When we go tour a facility, we coordinate. We contact the SHA. They contact the local management to tell them that we’re coming, and if it works for them, Mr. Speaker. We make sure that we’re not inconveniencing any of the staff or any of the operational systems, to make sure that we are touring the facility when it’s not just convenient for us, but it’s also convenient for them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”
Ms. Mowat: — “Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, we’re following that process. What he’s talking about here is silencing health care workers. That is what this memo indicates: don’t talk to the opposition, Mr. Speaker…”
Mowat then pointed to the other communities on their health care solutions tour including North Battleford, Saskatoon, Watrous, Humboldt, Fort Qu’Appelle, Regina and elsewhere.
Ms. Mowat: — “How many of these hospitals have received hush memos telling health care workers not to answer our questions or give out any information? How many?”
Hon. Mr. Merriman: — “Mr. Speaker, I read into the record . . . I know the member opposite has her four or five prepared questions that she has to read, but I read into the record exactly what the SHA said. This is the same process that I have to follow as Minister of Health. The Minister of Rural and Remote Health, any member on this side of the House or on that side of the House, Mr. Speaker, has to coordinate.
“We are not muzzling any health care workers. Mr. Speaker, there are health care workers all across this province that communicate with us on a daily basis, everybody from EMS [emergency medical services] to doctors in ER [emergency room] rooms. Mr. Speaker, we meet with nurses. We talk to them. Nobody has been muzzled. For them to do these accusations is absolutely ridiculous.”
Regina Elphinstone-Centre MLA Conway then took on Merriman, accusing the government’s centralization of not being limited to health care.
“They make sure every message, every comment, every scrap of information is painstakingly coordinated out of that Premier’s office. It’s no way to run a government, and it’s no way to treat Saskatchewan people. Why does the Health minister think that he has the right to tell Saskatchewan health workers to shut up and keep quiet about the problems they see every day?”
Hon. Mr. Merriman: — “Mr. Speaker, if the member’s aware of something, she should table it so I can look into it. We’ve never said that. Not once. They’re torquing it. They’re using language that was not in the memo, Mr. Speaker. They’re taking everything and they’re multiplying it by 10. It is absolutely ridiculous.
“I met with two doctors yesterday. I’m meeting with another doctor later on this afternoon. I’m meeting with nine nurses later on this week. We are sitting down at the tables in the coffee rooms of the health care facilities. We’re talking to nurses. We’re engaging with them virtually . . .”
An Hon. Member: — “They’re not allowed to talk to anyone else, right?”
Hon. Mr. Merriman: — “Well, they certainly had no problem talking to you on all the other tours you went to, didn’t they? Didn’t they?”
[Interjections]
The Deputy Speaker: — “Order. Order, please. Let’s finish the question and move on.”
In speaking to reporters afterwards, Merriman noted the memo that had gone out to Lanigan hospital staff had different language from the more generalized memo that had been sent out to all SHA staff, upon which the Lanigan memo was based.
“It’s mere speculation on why the language was modified, but that wasn’t the intent of the original memo,” said Merriman. “The intent was to make sure it was coordinated for patient safety, and to minimize disruption for the healthcare facilities.”
