The provincial government announced Wednesday they have accepted a report by the Saskatchewan Advisory Panel on Health System Structure and will amalgamate 12 health regions currently in use into one authority. The announcement has many people looking for answers on how certain things will work into the future but the Health Minister says those answers will come with time.

Jim Reiter says there is more planning to be done and right now, there's no concrete timeline in place. "We're hopeful that the new permanent board will be up and running by the fall and we're going to be moving ahead with legislation in the coming months."

"Even after that, you'll still see some transition taking place but you're looking at a year and maybe even 18 months for some components."

Reiter said cost savings will follow in years to come, but believes the move will make for a more streamlined health care system and better patient care.

On the heels of the announcement, the Canadian Union of Public Employees started expressing their concerns about a single health authority in the province. President of the CUPE health care council, Gordon Campbell says when Alberta consolidated to one health authority, it had an impact.

"They found that the public that was accessing health care and the workers that were providing it, were having troubles with the whole structure and how to navigate it in the system that they created there."

CUPE is also worried about job loss and the way departments are handled if there's a massive consolidation of responsibilities. Minister Reiter said it's too soon to say if any jobs will be altered or terminated, but explained that the province would have one Health Region CEO as opposed to 12 spread across the province right now.

The new Authority will have a single Board of Directors, consolidated administrative support, some clinical services such as laboratory and diagnostic imaging, and the planning, dispatch and delivery of EMS.

A similar review and report on education is also underway right now with many in the education sector predicting a similar move to amalgamated school boards.