Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Andrew Will announced on Friday that the SHA has been given $15 million by the province to purchase 109 new acute care beds and add staff to the facility over the course of the next year and a half. (Shane Clausing/650 CKOM)

Saskatoon City Hospital receives $15M for acute care beds, upgrades

By Shane Clausing Mar 7, 2025 | 2:30 PM

Saskatoon’s City Hospital is getting some much-needed upgrades.

The Government of Saskatchewan announced on Friday that it’s giving the hospital $15 million this year to purchase 109 acute care beds, upgrade equipment and expand acute care services.

Part of the money will also go towards recruiting an additional 500 staff and physicians to help care for the added capacity.

“We’ve committed to add 22 acute rehabilitation beds, 12 Acquired Brain Injury beds, 60 general medicine beds and 15 high acuity beds,” said Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Andrew Will.

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The goal of the new beds is to help make it easier for patients waiting in the emergency department at the City Hospital to move into acute care, which has been a problem at the hospital in the past.

“On average, we have 55 patients waiting in emergency departments for acute care beds. By adding these 109 beds, we directly reduce the number of patients waiting in emergency departments for admission to acute care, helping to alleviate pressure on emergency care services and improving timely access to care,” Will explained.

“This means that patients will receive acute care in the right place — in an acute care bed — instead of waiting in the emergency department for admission to acute care. This creates a better experience for patients,” Will added.

Will mentioned he’s confident the SHA will be able to recruit health-care workers for those soon-to-be-created jobs.

The latest investment will increase the acute care capacity in Saskatoon to 879 beds, which is a 14 per cent increase.

The SHA reiterated all the beds going to the City Hospital in Saskatoon are brand new and aren’t being moved from other rooms or facilities.

Staffing issues continue at the Emergency Department

Since the start of 2025, the SHA has had to reduce hours at the Emergency Department multiple times because of a lack of physicians and doctors available to work.

The hospital’s emergency department, usually open from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., has been forced to close at 6 p.m. on the dates when staffing is not up to par.

The hours will continue to be reduced until March 16. The Royal University Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital continue to be open 24 hours a day.

He said the SHA is continuing to work on restoring the services to full capacity as soon as possible.

The City Hospital has had physician equivalents from the other hospitals redeployed to meet patient demand according to Will. “Our commitment is to return to regular hours of operation of City Hospital as soon as we possibly can.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the upgrades are for several areas of the hospital, not upgrades to the emergency department.