The government of Saskatchewan says that they are considering the option of buying access to surgical procedures in British Columbia.

This decision has invited debates since politicians from both the provinces are counting on to the profits of such a scheme.

B. C.’s health minister, Kevin Falcon informed that officials were negotiating bringing in 400 patients over the next two years for surgery.

Saskatchewan's minister, Don McMorris, said that the option of sending some patients out of the province for surgeries will serve as an answer to lessen the backlog of surgical procedures.

McMorris further told the reporters that a group is till analyzing ways to reduce the waiting period for a surgery to a maximum of three months and that the discussions with B. C. were still in a preliminary stage.

McMorris said, "If we can ensure that they have their surgery done within three months and if it was — just hypothetically — not necessarily in this province and there was a bit of a premium that had to be paid, now I don't know what that is and that would all have to be talked about, but we're not ruling it out at this point."

Questions are being raised by the opposition politicians as to the arrangement of such a scheme with another province.

Decisions regarding the payment of different costs have not yet been decided upon and a working group of medical professionals and patients has been assembled to examine options.

McMorris said that he wants to begin implementing a strategy to reduce the waiting time of surgery in April 2010.