REGINA - Opposition New Democrats are raising concerns about the Regina Urgent Care Centre not being open 24-7.
Opposition Rural and Remote Health Critic Meara Conway stood outside the Urgent Care Centre Monday when the issue was raised. She accused the Sask Party government of breaking promises to have the facility runni g around the clock.
“Now, just three weeks into their new term, the SaskParty has broken one of their flagship election promises by failing to keep the Regina Urgent Care Centre behind me open 24-7 as was promised,” Conway said. “Construction on the centre was finished in April, and the Sask Party initially promised it would be open 24-7 during the summer months once staff were hired and trained. Right before the election, that date was pushed back to the fall. Now, the Sask Party is refusing to say when, or even if, the centre will be fully staffed up and offer around-the-clock care.”
She said job postings on SaskDocs reveal the Urgent Care Centre is still staffing up, with postings for specialists, family doctors and in emergency medicine.
“There are many, many unfilled positions for specialists, for family doctors, and in emergency medicine. Like many residents of this city, I'm very disappointed, but I'm not surprised that the Sask Party can't get this facility fully staffed up.”
She accused the government of having ”no plan” and of “walking back their initial commitment to make this a 24-7 centre.” She also accused them of not listening to healthcare workers and “driving them out of the province.”
“They're not listening to the solutions of frontline healthcare workers around the primary care crisis, around the mental health and addiction crisis, or the real solves to so many of our worst-in-the-nation healthcare outcomes, be it in surgical wait times, be it in ER wait times, be it in healthcare worker retention. This is the same old Sask Party playbook from the same old Sask Party. They say one thing before the election, and then they do another. Sexy promise with no understanding of the scope of the issue, and then a failure to deliver.”
Conway also lampooned the Health Human Resources Action Plan as “not worth the paper that it's printed on.” She also characterized healthcare workers as “fed up,” and then went on to lambaste the newly appointed Health Minister and former Education minister, Jeremy Cockrill.
”They're mad that Jeremy Cockrill is now the Minister of Health. This is an individual who has historically bad relationships with the professionals in his former portfolio. This is the person that we send as the ambassador on behalf of the government to deal with healthcare workers. It's beyond me. And health care workers are paying attention and they're upset.“
In response to the NDP news conference, the Ministry of Health has issued this statement:
"Since Saskatchewan’s first Urgent Care Centre (UCC) opened its doors to patients in Regina on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, more than 15,500 patients have been treated. The Regina UCC is seeing, on average, 114 patients per day.
"The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and Ministry of Health are currently assessing the first few months of Urgent Care Centre operations. This will establish a better understanding of the impact of the UCC on overall system capacity, and support future planning for necessary physician coverage and staffing levels to meet patient volumes. This will also assist us in determining when expansion to 24 hour per day operations will occur. We will communicate more as this progresses. Until that time, hours will remain as posted and the SHA will continue to recruit for any unfilled positions.
"The SHA thanks the health care professionals and physicians who are delivering exceptional, patient-centered care at the Regina UCC. Their flexibility to learn and adapt to this first-of-its-kind team-based model of care is inspiring."
