New study says half of Saskatoon hospital beds are unused

The Saskatchewan NDP says it's another sign of how healthcare in Saskatchewan is struggling and being mismanaged by the provincial government.

Data in a new study from the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) shows nearly half of the beds in Saskatoon hospitals are going unused.

The Saskatchewan NDP says it's another sign of how healthcare in Saskatchewan is struggling and being mismanaged by the provincial government.

"This government increasingly seems to be content with making decisions in small rooms in Regina about health care," leader Carla Beck said. "These decisions need to be made with the information from those on the frontline.

According to the latest available data, the occupancy rate of Saskatoon's three hospitals averages to 52 per cent. CIHI calculates the number of beds occupied by inpatients as a percentage of all acute care beds staffed and in operation by using the most recent available data from 2022-23.

Saskatoon City Hospital had the lowest occupancy rate in the city at 36 per cent, Royal University Hospital/Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital had 54 per cent occupancy and St. Paul’s Hospital was 66 per cent, according to CIHI.

The average occupancy rate across Canada was 76 per cent during the same period.