REGINA - The opposition New Democrats are raising major concerns about pressures at the neonatal intensive care unit at Regina General Hospital.
The indication from the NDP is that Opposition Ethics and Democracy critic Meara Conway will bring an emergency motion to the Assembly on Tuesday on the situation there.
The concerns were raised last Friday when the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses posted an anonymous email from a frontline healthcare worker at the neonatal intensive care unit.
The Facebook post stated: “The NICU at Regina General Hospital is facing an unprecedented crisis. We've been operating over capacity for weeks with no immediate relief in sight. Our dedicated staff are exhausted, working extended hours and multiple overtime shifts to ensure our most vulnerable patients receive the care they need. The situation is becoming critical. 1:1 patient care assignments are being doubled. And today we used our last available ventilator. We are doing everything we can, but the strain is real and growing.”
At a news conference Monday, Conway said the NDP were demanding “immediate public disclosure of the situation at the RGH NICU.”
“We are demanding a full public reporting of what emergency measures are being taken to add staff to the unit and bring in more ventilators. And we would expect regular updates until this situation is addressed. We believe that every measure should be taken to end this crisis as soon as possible and get these newborns the healthcare they need and deserve.”
Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill was asked about the situation at the neonatal unit during his media availability at the grand opening of the Regina Breast Health Centre on Monday.
“Yeah, so we have had an uptick in volume at the NICU unit. And really, you know, there's been more babies born in the last couple of weeks in Regina, which is a good thing as our province continues to grow,” Cockrill said.
“I think some of the things represented in those posts are not entirely accurate. You know, it's my understanding we haven't run out of ventilators at RGH. And so I don't think that's, it's my understanding that that is not the case.”
He also pointed to the Hospitals of Regina Foundation having made “significant investments into pediatric care in Regina in years past."
“Even in this year's budget, we announced some planning dollars for a high acuity, maternal high acuity unit at the General. These are important priorities. And so certainly, you know, we see utilization pressures in several facilities around the province, but we're making investments to ease those pressures.”
The comments from Cockrill drew an outraged response from Conway Monday.
“I want to make it very clear that we have confirmed and confirmed again that this complaint was one of dozens of complaints that have come in over the last couple of weeks,” Conway said. “The situation is dire. And frankly, the minister's attempt to downplay the situation is not only arrogant, it's disrespectful to the frontline healthcare workers that are working the NICU.”
Conway said this was about “our tiniest and most vulnerable patients. Often these babies are fighting for their lives, and the quality of healthcare they deserve isn't reliably there right now.”
She called the situation “every parent's worst nightmare,” and said the Sask Party “did not disclose this until it hit the media, which is unacceptable. And as far as we can tell, nothing has yet been done to address the situation.”
In another Facebook post on Monday night, SUN stated they were "astonished by the downplaying and disrespect to the nursing team giving their all in the NICU.”
They pointed to a frontline report submitted to the SHA and SUN identifying concerns from April 10, which stated: “Overcapacity, we have no more ventilators, pending more microprem admissions that will need a ventilator. Nothing being done to send those moms out, a completely unsafe work environment for staff and patients. Unit was closed, still received two admissions. Acuity very high, milk mixing error due to no time to make milk and no resources to help, errors were made when making milk in haste to help with other things on the unit.”
SUN also pointed to nurses in the NICU in Regina working the equivalent of 30 full time nursing positions in overtime last year, as well as 44 work situation reports flagging dire patient safety concerns since the start of 2025.
At a news conference Tuesday morning, Conway again characterized Cockrill's response as "arrogant."
"If he won't act, we will," said Conway, who said her emergency motion would call upon the government to take immediate action to address the crisis and provide daily public updates until it is addressed.
"This is a big deal. Action and information are important," Conway said.
Conway also pointed to newborns being referred to North Dakota. In a release, the NDP pointed to a news story in which Tracy Sambory was quoted as saying that due to the overcapacity issues they "actually had to transfer mums and babies out to North Dakota.”
In a news release soon afterwards, Saskatchewan Health Authority rejected the latest public claim that newborns were being sent to North Dakota.
"No NICU babies or moms have been sent to North Dakota, out of province nor out of country due to the recent demand for care. There has NOT been a transfer out of province for an NICU patient since January 2021, and there has NOT been a transfer of a NICU patient out of country since 2008.
"While Regina NICU is experiencing a surge in demand over last few weeks with a number of premature births and multiple births, there continues to be NICU capacity in Saskatchewan. There is not a shortage of NICU. Our Regina General team works with NICU teams in Saskatoon and Prince Albert daily to ensure that all newborns and children receive care appropriate to their level of acuity and complexity, no matter where their home community may be."
