REGINA - The opposition New Democrats and the governing Sask Party were at odds Tuesday over timing of the opening of the new Breast Health Centre in Regina.
At a media event Tuesday morning near the Breast Centre location on Albert St., Health Critic Vicki Mowat and Critic for Status of Women Brittney Senger roasted the government for having failed to open the clinic by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year. They claimed in doing so the government had broken a campaign promise to open it up in time.
But in speaking to reporters at the Legislature that afternoon, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said the new Breast Health Centre will in fact be open in mid-April.
“Yeah, so planning for a grand opening April 14, and we expect our first patients to walk through the doors on April 23,” said Cockrill.
When asked the reason why there was a delay, Cockrill replied that from everything he saw it would open the spring of 2025. "At the end of the day, this is really good news for women in Regina and Â鶹ÊÓƵern Saskatchewan.”
Cockrill said he had toured the facility a couple of weeks ago, and construction was pretty much done.
“We're just setting up equipment and, you know, obviously setting up things like the IT systems, making sure everything's connected and ready to go so that we can start training staff and getting ready to accept patients later in April.”
Cockrill also said staffing was mostly in place for the 13 full time equivalent position.
That ran counter to the NDP messaging Tuesday, which pointed to a lack of health care workers as potentially holding up the project.
“What we’re hearing from people behind the scenes is that there are significant concerns with staffing,” said Mowat to reporters.
Mowat said staffing has been an issue the Opposition has been raising for a while.
“Staffing, recruiting, retention are the key issues that face our health care workforce.”
Mowat also said they have seen the government make announcements about new health care facilities, “which can make for a great news day,” but “when it actually comes to following through and providing health care for the people of the province, they are failing to deliver on that promise.”
In a news release the NDP also was critical of the government for “forcing patients to seek mammograms and other diagnostic services at private clinics owned by Sask. Party donors in Calgary.”
Cockrill told reporters believed the new clinic would make a major difference in cutting down on wait times in southern Saskatchewan.
“We expect 1,600 women a year to go through this Regina Breast Health Centre. That is significant.”
As for the Calgary clinic, Cockrill confirmed the contract there has been extended to 2026 and they plan to “continue working with that company in Calgary for the duration of that contract.”
Cockrill added that with respect to access to care, “we shouldn't be so ideological about what that looks like.”
“Again, this is ensuring… that women have access to those services while we're getting the Breast Health Centre up and running here in Regina. Again, we'll continue to monitor wait lists and the demand.”
