A Saskatoon family is speaking out about what they call the "dehumanizing" reality of hallway healthcare at Royal University Hospital, after their family member received days of medical treatment in a public corridor.
The distressing experience has prompted calls for immediate changes to what many are calling a broken healthcare system in Saskatchewan. "This doesn't work for patients, and it doesn't work for healthcare workers," said the family member, who witnessed their loved one's struggle for privacy and dignity.
The Human Cost of Hospital Overcrowding
What began as a medical emergency quickly turned into an ordeal of exposed privacy and compromised care. Instead of being moved to a proper room, the patient remained in the emergency department hallway for multiple days, receiving sensitive medical treatments in full view of passing staff, patients, and visitors.
"You're at your most vulnerable when you're in the hospital," the family member explained. "To have that vulnerability exposed to everyone walking by—it's not just uncomfortable, it's dehumanizing."
A System Under Pressure
The situation at RUH reflects a broader healthcare crisis affecting hospitals across Saskatchewan and Canada. Overcrowding has become so severe that hallway medicine is now commonplace, with patients receiving critical care in spaces never designed for medical treatment.
Healthcare advocates point to systemic issues including:
- Insufficient hospital bed capacity
- Staffing shortages across all departments
- Backlogs in patient transfers to appropriate facilities
- Aging infrastructure unable to meet current demand
Families Demand Action
This Saskatoon family is now joining a growing chorus of voices demanding concrete solutions from healthcare administrators and provincial officials. They're calling for:
- Immediate measures to reduce hallway medicine
- Increased transparency about hospital capacity issues
- Long-term planning to address systemic overcrowding
- Better communication with families during crisis situations
"We need to stop accepting this as normal," the family emphasized. "Hallway healthcare isn't healthcare—it's crisis management, and patients deserve better."
As the conversation about healthcare reform continues, families like this one hope their stories will spark the urgent changes needed to restore dignity and quality care to Saskatchewan's hospitals.
