New Regina Breast Health Centre to open; NDP sounds alarm over staffing

Laura Sciarpelletti · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 14, 2025 7:59 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The new Regina Breast Health Centre is acceptable to officially unfastened its doors to patients adjacent week.

In a quality release Monday morning, the state said the centre volition supply a assortment of services, including diagnostic imaging, biopsies, specializer consultations, diligent acquisition and navigation, arsenic good as future on-site station attraction therapies and rehabilitation.

"The centre truly demonstrates our government's committedness to improving entree and enhancing wellness services for women successful Saskatchewan," Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said astatine the centre's expansive opening ceremonial Monday.

The curate said the caller centre volition trim agelong hold times for women seeking diagnostics and attraction successful the province. Patients volition necessitate a referral from a household doc to entree the bosom wellness centre. 

Health-care workers reassigned to centre from Pasqua

On Monday, Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP sent retired a quality merchandise stating that leaked messages uncover the Sask. Party broke what the Opposition called a cardinal predetermination committedness by "quietly reassigning unit from existing wellness facilities to the caller Regina Breast Health Centre, alternatively than hiring caller healthcare workers arsenic promised."

Since June 2024, the authorities has said the caller gathering would boost capableness and bring successful out-of-province recruits. The Opposition said that has not happened. 

"Behind closed doors, the Sask. Party has been moving unit from the Pasqua Hospital's Breast Assessment Centre, raising fears that it whitethorn soon close," the NDP said.

Cockrill confirmed that 4 unit members are being reassigned from the Pasqua appraisal centre to the Regina Breast Health Centre. 

As for those not transferring implicit from Pasqua, Cockrill said helium could not talk to wherever caller health-care professionals were hired from. 

When asked astatine the expansive opening if the 4 health-care professionals would beryllium returning to Pasqua, oregon if 4 caller unit members would beryllium hired astatine the caller installation eventually, Cockrill said the Ministry of Health has to travel its corporate bargaining agreements erstwhile "moving worldly around" and that determination is simply a "process for that."

He said helium could not talk specifically to the bargaining agreements. 

'Under 1 roof'

Cockrill said helium believes having a abstraction extracurricular of a infirmary mounting nether 1 extortion to "streamline" patients done the bosom crab detection and attraction process is important.

"I heard directly from survivors that each acquisition is different. It's not uniform," Cockrill said.

"That's wherefore having things nether 1 roof. Having staff that are moving unneurotic arsenic a collaborative squad is truthful important successful presumption of making definite immoderate that travel whitethorn look like, whatever the bid of operations is, that Saskatchewan women tin get the champion attraction imaginable adjacent to home."

According to the Official Opposition's merchandise astir the leaked messages, the enactment sees things differently.

"This authorities isn't going to alteration thing if they conscionable determination radical from 1 gathering to another. We request to absorption connected the aboriginal and prosecute much health-care workers," said Brittney Senger, Sask. NDP critic for the presumption of women.

"It's each astir flashy headlines for the Sask. Party aged boys club. They don't springiness a damn astir women's health."

Meanwhile, in the province's quality release, bosom crab survivor Briana Bolduc said the familiarity of having appointments successful the aforesaid determination volition supply "a much-needed consciousness of comfortableness and assistance trim anxiousness during a truly hard time."

"Anything that makes the crab travel a spot much manageable is simply a win, and I americium grateful this centre volition beryllium for those who request it."

In 1 leaked email obtained by the NDP, Pasqua Hospital employees successful Regina asked for confirmation and clarification of their transportation to the caller building, noting that "other technologists" astatine the Pasqua's Breast Assessment Centre person already been reassigned.

Another connection the NDP obtained claimed the existent Breast Assessment Centre inside the Pasqua Hospital is "not going to beryllium successful the coming month." The insider said they are "moving into a caller gathering and it volition beryllium called the Breast Health Centre."

In a quality league connected Monday, Senger said the state is "not doing the hard enactment of gathering retired that capacity, recruiting, retaining caller health-care workers. This is much a question of reallocating existing resources wrong the system."

The state said it has put $8.5 cardinal toward opening the caller facility, including gathering renovations, diagnostic instrumentality and staffing.

The Regina Breast Health Centre volition judge patients opening April 23 at 1621 Albert Street.