No-barrier healthcare bus launching in Saskatoon

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A new bus in Saskatoon is aiming to provide no-barrier healthcare to the city’s most vulnerable population.

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“We’re going to let the needs of the community let us know what is needed and where we’re needed,” said Thomas Laughton, project manager for the community wellness bus project.

“One of the big purposes in this project is to take some of that pressure off of our overwhelmed emergency departments.”

Healthcare in Saskatchewan has been struggling, as permanent hallway beds have been established at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, overtime hours for nurses have seen a large increase, and Regina General Hospital has declared “code orange” due to overcapacity issues, which is typically announced for incidents involving mass casualties.

Three community wellness buses — one in Regina, one in Saskatoon and one in Prince Albert — are part of a provincial initiative to offer health, mental health and addictions services to communities based on the need.

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Laughton said this bus will also serve as a way to get access to healthcare before the situation gets worse and people need a hospital. He gives an example of a dressing change that would prevent a serious infection on a wound.

“Down the road, that saves thousands of dollars in potential costs to the healthcare system through admissions, through more complex interventions that are required because they weren’t able to access healthcare in a timely and efficient manner,” he said.

The bus will be located at 400 Morse Road, and will operate Wednesday to Sunday, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Clients can call 306-380-1000 for an up-to-date location and schedule.

He said the project can expand or contract based on the needs of the community.

“If we’re seeing overwhelming numbers and the demand is there, there’s definitely a case that in the future we could expand hours, we could look at a wide variety of options.”

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He said the bus program takes into account specific needs within Saskatoon, adding they aren’t looking to duplicate services from the city’s community organizations, which was part of the rationale behind the bus’s location.

“The location that we did pick near River Landing puts us near that River Landing community, where in the summer there’s a lot of people there. It’s close in the winter to Midtown Mall, which is really important,” Laughton said, adding that people will often go to Midtown Mall in the winter to stay warm.

Community organization partnerships are a key objective for Laughton. He says they’ll connect with organizations like Saskatoon Tribal Council, Prairie Harm Reduction and Crocus Co-operative.

He said they want to supplement services from those community groups.

As part of addressing concerns about the location of the bus, Laughton said they’ll work to inform people that having this bus in their community will actually make that community safer.

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“With a lot of concerns around the population that will be accessing the bus, there’s concerns about safety, but we’re not bringing the bus to places where our population aren’t already,” Laughton said, adding the bus won’t bring masses of people to an area where they weren’t already.

Security cameras are equipped on both on the interior and exterior, and will turn on the moment an emergency button gets pushed. Those camera feeds then get sent to emergency services, and they are able to determine what kind of response is needed.

A wide variety of services will be available, including basic health assessments, vaccinations, take-home naloxone kits and training, reproductive health services, wound care, referrals to housing and social services, and withdrawal management, just to name a few.

The bus will be staffed with a nurse practitioner, a licensed practical nurse and assessor co-ordinators.

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It offers unique wheelchair accessibility, having a wheelchair lift and folding doors and tables, to offer ease of access to different parts of the bus like the washroom.

The Regina bus is already up and running. The Saskatoon bus starts Wednesday, and Laughton said he hopes to have the Prince Albert bus running within the next month or two.

“Wellness buses provide another avenue for residents to receive the care they need closer to home,” said Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill.

Kevin Weedmark, MLA for Moosomin-Montmartre, said the cost for all three buses includes $2.5 million to outfit the vehicles, and that $1.5 million will be spent each year to keep them running.

“A very small cost for the lives it’s going to impact,” Weedmark said.

Kelly Tokarchuk, executive director of primary care for the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said staff are specific to the bus, and explained that the bus isn’t taking staff from other healthcare facilities.

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She said the services available will be culturally sensitive and stigma free.

“Wellness or health for somebody is not just one piece,” Tokarchuk said, adding Indigenous art will be added to the bus.

She said the bus offers both heating and air conditioning, noting it will run year-round.

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