Budget includes $768,000 for expanding health care in Moosomin

Increased revenue sharing, EHS renovation, Esterhazy hospital planning also in budget

March 23, 2026, 8:28 am
Nicole Taylor, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The provincial budget on Wednesday included $768,000 annually to expand health care in Moosomin by adding up to 6.2 new FTE positions at the Moosomin Family Practice Centre through the Patient Medical Home (PMH) model.

The 6.2 FTE new positions will include 2.5 FTE Registered Nurses, 1.25 FTE Dietitians, 1.25 FTE Behavior Therapists, 0.2 FTE pharmacist, and 1.0 FTE Medical Office Assistant (MOA).

The budget provided $1.8 million to expand the PMH program to new communities, including Moosomin, Esterhazy, Kamsack, Loon Lake/Good Soil, Lloydminster, Maple Creek, Swift Current, Wadena, Wakaw, and Yorkton. The PMH program builds on the Swift Current pilot program with the aim of improved access to a primary care provider, more timely appointments, and better co-ordinated services.

“Patient medical homes are family medicine clinics that provide patients with continuous care throughout their lives, supported by a connected interdisciplinary care team,” says Moosomin-Montmartre MLA Kevin Weedmark, and Legislative Secretary to the Ministers of Health.

“The idea is you have different physicians who may have slightly different areas of practice, but you are attached not to a individual provider, but you’re attached to that clinic, and there are different physicians at that clinic who can help you. There are different supporting medical professionals of different types. It could be a dietitian or could be a registered nurse, or could be a therapist of some sort.

“The idea is that those people, together, those individuals, help support the physicians and help provide a wider range of medical services within the clinic, making sure that, that clinic can meet a great deal of your health care needs.”

Weedmark says the expansion of the model to Moosomin is a testament to the abundant health care services the community is already providing.
“Moosomin is fortunate to have an incredible group of doctors and an incredibly supportive community, and those two things together have helped build it into a pretty important medical centre for the area.

“Moosomin is the only town of its size in Canada where you can do your residency in family medicine, and that is really a testament to the incredible medical community that we have in Moosomin.

“So we’ve got a great group of doctors. We’ve got a wonderful health centre in the South East Integrated Care Centre. We have a residency program, and the physicians of the Family Practice Center have built a model really does a great job of providing care to a large region. They’ve got a great model where they have the clinic in Moosomin, but they do outreach into other communities.

“And now to build upon that, the government is basically saying, ‘great job. That’s what we need. What can we do to help you further?’

“So they’re being funded to the tune of $768,000 a year to basically expand on that model. And with that funding, they’re going to be able to hire up to 6.2 full-time equivalent positions, including registered nurses, dietitians, behavior therapists, a pharmacist and a medical office assistant—so six new medical professionals for Moosomin to complement the services provided by the physicians.

“That funding from the province is going to help make Moosomin more of a medical hub. It’s going to expand the services available through the Family Practice Centre, allow them to do more and allow people to have more of their needs met right in Moosomin.

“This is basically a recognition that the model the physicians have built over the years—the group practice where people work together—that works. The whole idea is to support them and help them expand it further.”

Increased revenue sharing

The budget also includes $712.2 million of direct provincial support to municipalities, an increase of $46.9 million from 2025-26 or seven per cent.

“The Government of Saskatchewan continues to invest in our province’s growth with record-setting municipal revenue sharing,” Minister Responsible for Government Relations Eric Schmaltz said. “We are investing wisely, providing funding to municipalities to assist in meeting the priorities that matter most to their residents. Affordability also matters, so our government is holding the line on education property tax.”

Municipal Revenue Sharing for 2026-27 is a record total $392.4 million with urban revenue sharing up $19.7 million, rural revenue sharing up $8.7 million and northern municipalities receiving $2.2 million more year-over-year.

Revenue sharing is up 8.5 per cent from last year and is now more than triple what it was in 2007.

Moosomin will receive $892,990 in revenue sharing in 2026, up from $819,751 in 2025 and up from $231,268 in 2007.

Esterhazy will receive $772,224 in revenue sharing in 2026, up from $708,913 in 2025, and up from $239,293 in 2007.

Carlyle will receive $491,509 in revenue sharing in 2026, up from $451,273 in 2025, and up from $129,698 in 2007.

Rocanville will receive $287,558 in revenue sharing in 2026, up from $264,086 in 2025. Kipling will receive $347,619 in revenue sharing in 2026, up from $319,211 in 2025. Whitewood will receive $305,223 in revenue sharing in 2026, up from $280,299 in 2025. Wawota will receive $180,282 in revenue sharing in 2026, up from $165,629 in 2025. Wapella will receive $105,767 in revenue sharing in 2026, up from $97,240 in 2025.

$239 million in funding will also be allocated through infrastructure programs administered by the Ministry of Government Relations, including cost-shared federal-provincial infrastructure programs. This includes the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, Canada Housing Infrastructure Program and the New Building Canada Fund Program. Rural infrastructure continues to see investment as the Ministry of Highway’s Rural Integrated Roads for Growth Program will receive an additional $2.0 million for $20.4 million in 2026-27.

Esterhazy High School major renovation

A major renovation of Esterhazy High School was included as part of the budget’s education capital projects.

The Ministry of Education said in an email last week the renovation will “add decades of life to the building and address important issues like the HVAC system. The renovation will include work on the building as well as classrooms, office space and washrooms.”

The province is committing a total of $123.8 million to advance education infrastructure priorities, with three new school builds and a major renovation (Esterhazy High School) announced in the 2026-27 provincial budget. Costs for major and minor capital projects are part of the overall capital budget and not broken out on a project-by-project basis.

The capital investment also includes $20 million for relocatable classrooms to provide school divisions flexibility to manage local space pressures.

Continued planning for new hospital in Esterhazy

The budget also included $3.5 million for advance planning for various major health care infrastructure projects across the province, including $653,000 for planning in 2026-27 for the Esterhazy Integrated Care Facility.

Overall a total of $635.7 million has been dedicated to constructing hospitals, long-term care homes, urgent care centres, as well as technology.

Major infrastructure investments for 2026-27 include ongoing planning activities for major projects, including the Esterhazy Integrated Care Facility, the Yorkton Regional Health Centre, Rosthern Hospital, and Battlefords and District Care Centre.