REGINA – The provincial government has signed contracts this week to expand publicly funding to Nurse Practitioners in Saskatchewan.
Monday in Regina, it was announced the province was signing 19 Nurse Practitioner contracts to provide publicly funded primary health care services.
Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill made the announcement Monday at a signing ceremony at NPower+ Health Clinic in Regina, where three Nurse Practitioners put pen to paper and signed their names to NP contracts.
“We're very excited to see this happen, not only here in Regina, but in communities right across the province,” said Cockrill. “This initiative gives Saskatchewan people another avenue to obtain publicly funded health services and helps to improve access to care for people when and where they need it.”
These days, nurse practitioners are licensed to provide many of the same services as a family doctor, and this initiative is seen as a way to address the need for primary care health professionals in Saskatchewan.
It was developed by the province in close partnership with the Saskatchewan Association of Nurse Practitioners. The first-year compensation is a little over $233,000 for a full-time equivalent nurse practitioner under the program.
Cockrill said the contracts are part of their broader strategy to ensure everyone in Saskatchewan has access to a primary care provider by 2028.
According to Cockrill the province announced plans back in 2024 for a funding model for independent nurse practitioners, and that was followed up this past June with an expression of interest process. Initially, there were six contracts approved for funding, but Cockrill said “due to overwhelming interest in this model, we have expanded this initiative" to sign 19 contracts.
How the initiative works
Michelle O'Keefe, President of the Saskatchewan Association of Nurse Practitioners and a primary care nurse practitioner in Grenfell, said the scope of practice of an NP “has increased significantly over the last decade to include a large variety of physician-equivalent services.”
O'Keefe said that up to now, a NP had not been able to open a private practice without having to pass that cost on to the patient.
“With the development of the primary care NP contract program, successful applicants are able to establish a private practice, join a group practice, or build a collaborative team… offering healthcare in Saskatchewan as an independent contractor with the Ministry of Health,” said O’Keefe.
“With this program, the patient will not have to pay for any medically necessary healthcare delivered by an NP that holds a contract with the Ministry of Health. This significantly increases access to primary care, leading to shorter wait times and better use of our emergency department as that flows downstream.”
She adds that the 19 contracts equate to almost 20,000 Saskatchewan residents being able to find a primary care provider for their long-term healthcare needs.
NPower+ Health Nurse Practitioner Hanna Latina is one of the NPs who was offered and signed an NP contract. She called it “truly a meaningful step forward because it strengthens the access to high-quality, consistent care for the people I'm privileged to serve.”
Latina said the funding model in place will support a “long-term, relationship-based practice" for herself and her patients. She believes the contract will bring stability and allow her to “practice fully within my training and expertise.”
As for what this announcement means for delivery of health care services, O’Keefe believes it will make a difference, particularly in rural areas.
“Well, it's significant because working in Grenfell, the communities around me, there's a lot of vacant nurse practitioner positions. So the more N.P.s that you have working in the rural setting especially, it takes that load off of the people that are working there already.”
These contracts would allow a nurse practitioner to “build a clinic in their location where they live, where their farm is, where they're planning to spend the rest of their lives. And that offers a continuity to the rural residents in that area.”
As for what this means for the entire effort to recruit more health care professionals to the province, Cockrill believes it sends a message to nurse practitioners around the country that Saskatchewan is “focused on patients and providing more options for both patients and providers.”
“So if you're a nurse practitioner in B.C. or Ontario or any other province, the opportunity to come to Saskatchewan (and) receive a contract like this — this is something that I think for patients is good, but also for providers providing another opportunity for them to practice.”
