Crowded hospitals focus of questions at legislature

The official opposition says the government needs to acknowledge the province's overcrowded and understaffed hospitals.

During Question Period today, NDP leader Cam Broten raised an incident last week when a patient at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon spent eight hours in a hallway.

Broten said that when the 88-year-old man's daughter asked nurses about the situation she was told it was typical.

The CEO of the Saskatoon Health Region, Dan Florizone, spoke to reporters after Question Period and said he is working on the problem.

"There's going to be a new status quo and it's going to involve no patients waiting or being delayed in the care that they receive," Florizone said. "So I need to apologize to those patients."

Florizone noted a program is underway in the region to address hospital wait times and patient flow issues.