REGINA — Controversy has swirled this week at the Legislature again over the issue of short staffing at rural hospitals.

This week in Question Period, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill has been on the hot seat from the Opposition over the reporting of hospital closures under the new notification system introduced by the SHA this week, and in particular over the criteria over what constitutes an ER closure.

The concerns raised by the NDP are over the contents of a leaked memo from the SHA, communicating to staff of the new closure notification process. The Opposition claimed that this memo confirmed emergency rooms were being forced to stay open even when only one registered nurse is available on duty in the hospital.

Opposition critics went ballistic, with Associate Health Critic Keith Jo

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