Legislation for physician assistants introduced in Saskatchewan

In a bid to help heal Saskatchewan’s limping health-care system, the province’s health minister has introduced legislation to allow physician assistants to practice in Saskatchewan.

“This is another tool that we’re going to be able to have to help out our health-care system. This is directly into the primary care,” said Health Minister Paul Merriman.

Physician assistants work under the supervision of a licensed doctor as part of a team. They can do things like get patient histories, conduct exams, diagnose patients and give treatment options.

They can also help with surgeries, prescribe medications and perform procedures as long as they align with the supervising doctor’s scope.

“They extend out the capacity of a doctor to be able to do some things and make sure that the doctor is operating at the top end of their scope,” explained Merriman.

“This will help keep our rural hospitals and our emergency rooms stabilized, as well as in the city.”

Merriman said physician assistants are different from nurse practitioners, although the province is also looking to hire more nurse practitioners and expand their scope.

“We’re not just looking at one way of managing some of the issues that are out there – we’re expanding scope. We’re bringing new professions in and in the budget … we’ve got the dollars in behind that,” said the minister.

Other provinces have working physician assistants, and Merriman said he’s spoken with doctors and surgeons who say they can’t wait for the legislation to pass and for the physician assistants to start work.

Merriman said he wants to pass the legislation as soon as possible. After that, the College of Medicine can pass new bylaws, and then the province can begin recruitment. The minister said physician assistants have already been in contact about work opportunities.

In the spring budget, $1.7 million was put aside to fund 12 physician assistant positions.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct a typo in the number of physician assistant positions available.