The Saskatchewan NDP Four Pillar Primary Care Plan.

No. We’re only reinforcing and building on existing relationships, not breaking them. Providers can choose whether to join the Healthcare Home model. Either way, the goal is to connect them to broader supports through a Healthcare Hub.

Healthcare Homes are especially important for people who don’t have reliable primary care today. Your local provider could opt in or out of becoming a HealthHome and either way, they will be connected to a no barrier local HealthHub for more supports so that you have the care you need when you need it. HealthHomes are primarily designed as a backstop to address the 6 out of 10 residents who don’t have access to primary care in Saskatchewan. It will not replace existing relationships. HealthHomes will also exist to enhance your local providers with allied health professionals and other specialized providers.

No.

Some Health networks are doing some of this some of the time. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we need to break down barriers and build on - and out from - the amazing things providers are already doing as the rule, not the exception. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. We need to make what works the rule, not the exception.

Not necessarily. A Hub is a coordinated network of services — mental health, rehabilitation, specialists, home-care coordination and other supports — that backs up local Healthcare Homes. Some communities already have the buildings and even co-located services. The missing piece is making them work together. In other places, there is heavier lifting that needs doing.

That's why the Bridge is essential. It connects HealthLine 811, relational virtual care, mobile health professionals and community-based services to bring care closer to patients. Your address should be your guarantee to primary care — not limit where or how you receive it.

Your Healthcare Home would remain responsible for ensuring continuity of care. Patients shouldn't have to start from scratch every time a provider leaves. Patient navigators will be embedded into Healthcare Hubs to ensure active matching happens and their care is bridged until they can be connected with sustainable primary care. The guarantee is an ongoing care relationship and burden on system, not dependence on one individual or leaving individuals to fend for themselves.

No. We are proposing an expansion of alternative payment models as an additional practice option, not a mandatory replacement. Independent and fee-for-service providers can continue practising, while gaining better access to coordinated services given current gaps and oversight in how we manage fee for service in Saskatchewan. This will involve changes to fee for service model that better reflects how team based care work. We will work to make team-based practice attractive based on detailed feedback from practitioners themselves — not force everyone into the same employment model.

By reducing the expectation that one provider must do everything. We can’t demand team-based care while continuing to pay providers as though they work alone. Healthcare Homes would offer team-based care, shared responsibilities, administrative support and access to Hub services. Each provider of primary care should be able to connect their patient to any and all of the members of the primary care team. This will also come with a commitment to examine fee for service payment models that currently do not recognize time, patient complexity and coordination properly. Why is a physician permitted to bill for time they spend speaking to a nurse, but not a homecare worker? The goal is more time caring for patients and less time fighting the system.

Yes. Participating Homes should meet clear standards for continuity, access, coordination and accountability. But standards must recognize that 1,500 relatively healthy patients are not the same as 1,500 patients with complex medical and social needs. Funding and expectations must reflect patient complexity, not just patient volume.

No. Participation would be voluntary, with incentives to make the model attractive. We’ve heard from family physicians and nurse practitioners who want to practise collaboratively but lack the supports or payment structures to do so. Changes are moving much too slowly and are not resulting in a meaningful paradigm shift. This is about making better primary care models easier to deliver — and easier to choose.

Through defined referral pathways, shared-care arrangements, coordinated follow-up and clear responsibilities between the Hub and the patient’s Healthcare Home. A Hub should not be another place where patients disappear onto a waiting list. The local team remains responsible; the Hub provides additional capacity.

Through interoperable records, shared referral and follow-up processes, dedicated coordination support, and payment arrangements that recognize work such as case conferences and consultations are key to good primary care. We need to facilitate and incentivize communication and coordination, not just appointments.

Recruitment and retention remain essential. But Saskatchewan also needs to make better use of the professionals already here. Particularly given where these efforts are at after 20 years of Sask Party government. Team-based practice, better working conditions, flexible payment options and shared regional services can help existing professionals work more effectively and make primary care a more attractive career. This system will attract more providers, while also ensuring their time is used efficiently with maximum impact.

Not necessarily. The first priority is connecting and strengthening existing clinics, hospitals, community facilities and services.

Some communities may need additional space or infrastructure and that should be done meaningfully. Others already have underused facilities that could support coordinated care.

Unlike the Sask Party, we’ll build the connections first, ensure investments are tied to clear outcomes, build new buildings where they’re actually needed and with a plan to staff them.

Using population health needs, local service gaps, patient travel patterns and input from frontline providers and communities. Saskatchewan’s existing data is incomplete, so improving local needs assessments and reporting must be part of implementation. A Hub should be designed around what its communities need — not a one-size-fits-all template.

This needs a phased rollout with clear timelines, starting with communities facing the greatest gaps and building on teams and networks already demonstrating success.

Meaningful reform will require upfront investment in teams, coordination, technology and underserved communities. But there is evidence that Saskatchewan’s status quo is also ineffective and incredibly expensive. When manageable conditions become crises, Saskatchewan pays for emergency visits, hospitalizations and institutional care that effective primary care can sometimes prevent. And we have some of the worst outcomes on this metric than anywhere else.

The economic question isn't just what better primary care costs. It's what failing to provide it is already costing us.

No. The goal isn’t to replace health professionals. It’s to expand the capacity of the workforce by allowing people to practise to their full scope, share responsibilities and access specialized support. Better teamwork is not a substitute for recruitment. It’s part of making recruitment and retention work.

Geography, population density, transportation and local capacity will need to shape the service standard. The promise is that everyone has a responsible team and practical access to care — including through the Bridge when distance or travel is difficult.

Through publicly reported measures of attachment, timely access, continuity, referrals, patient experience, workforce retention and avoidable hospital use. Not just how many people are assigned a provider — but whether they can actually get care that they are satisfied with.