REGINA – The New Democrats have been pledging to invest in the healthcare system throughout their campaign. On Monday, the NDP announced a plan to investigate the Administrative Information Management System (AIMS) and the issues healthcare workers have dealt with.
NDP incumbent Regina Douglas Nicole Sarauer spoke to reporters outside Pasqua Hospital regarding AIMS faults.
“Not only does it [AIMS] fail to pay workers properly, but also puts patients at risk. Over and over again, surgeons and doctors have told us that they couldn’t get critical life-saving equipment because AIMS simply doesn’t work,” Sarauer said.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) rolled out AIMS in 2022 to combine pre-existing software and help the overall experience of employees. However, numerous issues have arisen with AIMS over the past year.
Through the Accountability Commission, which includes retired judges and experts, the NDP hopes to figure out what went wrong with AIMS and how they can use a better system for healthcare workers.
When asked by reporters about the issues healthcare workers have brought up about AIMS, Sarauer said, “We have heard stories from a myriad of healthcare workers about the lack of ability to get paid on time and the amount that they’re supposed to get paid. I know there are workers who have gone weeks without getting any paycheck.”
She added because of AIMS, equipment to treat patients has not been arriving on time at hospitals.
The NDP also outlined the cost of AIMS and how the original cost has doubled since it was announced.
“The original price tag for AIMS was $86 million. Today’s data shows that number soared to $203 million. And the program isn’t even half implemented. Who knows what the final cost could be? 300 million? 400 million? This is money that could have been invested to fix healthcare.”
The NDP believes AIMS is why Saskatchewan is last among Canadian provinces in healthcare.
Sarauer was also asked if the NDP would scrap AIMS if they won the election. She said, “The challenge we have right now is the Sask Party is so difficult to get information out of. They [the Sask Party] complete lack of transparency in all of these projects, including the AIMS project, makes it difficult for us to be able to know what makes the most sense for health care and for Saskatchewan taxpayers.”
Sarauer said the NDP would announce more news regarding healthcare in the coming days.