REGINA – A group of more than 50 Preeceville, Sask. residents descended on the legislative building Wednesday to protest the upcoming closure of ER services in that town.
READ MORE: ER services to be suspended in Preeceville, Sask.
A fiery debate took place in question period as the opposition NDP slammed the Saskatchewan party in front of the concerned residents.
“They got a hospital and now it’s a bigger place, it serves not just Preeceville but a broader area and they need acute and emergency services there.”
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The premier defended what the province has done to protect rural health care.
According to the Saskatchewan government, the Rural Family Physician Incentive Program pays $120K over 5 years to recently graduated physicians who practice in a community of 10,000 people or less.
READ MORE: Saskatchewan getting better at convincing new doctors to stick around
However, talk of incentives are not quelling concerns for the residents affected most.
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“Everybody in our whole community, surrounding area, they’ve fundraised huge dollars. $3.5 million was fundraised,” Preeceville resident Tammy Pantiuk said.
“We want it, we deserve it.”
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