Breakdown of Health's 2008-09 Expense Growth

More than a third of the extra dollars in this year's Health budget will pay for increases in salaries, wages and benefits for the province's health care providers.

In addition to the compensation increase, the government will boost spending on nursing recruitment and retention programs by $20.7 million, bringing total annual expenditures in this area to $26 million. This investment is in addition to the $60 million in one-time funding the government recently allocated to its recruitment and retention partnership with the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses.

The government is committed to increasing the province's capacity to train physicians. The budget includes $3.2 million from Advanced Education, Employment and Labour and $1.8 million from Health to train 100 more medical students and increase physician residency seats to 120 by 2010-11. Health is also allocating $1.1 million for physician recruitment and retention, including four additional medical seats for internationally-trained graduates and adding two physicians plus a second Medical Health Officer in the north.

The Ready for Growth initiative includes $191 million to fix existing hospitals and health facilities, to continue building the new provincial laboratory, to purchase medical equipment, and to begin building much needed health infrastructure.

The chart above breaks down Health's 8.7% expense increase ($300.1 million).

The chart above indicates the relative size of the components of the Ministry of Health's $3.745 billion 2008-2009 budget.