REGINA, Sask. — A Pilot Butte mother, whose daughter has been receiving Saskatoon-based care for Type 1 diabetes since 2019, says she can empathize with other southern Saskatchewan families who are now being forced to travel hundreds of additional kilometres for routine checkups.
“It takes a whole day [off work] to be there,” Natasha Cherepuschak told SaskToday in a Wednesday interview.
Cherepuschak’s daughter Meela was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2013, at just two-and-a-half years old.
Natasha said that, prior to the opening of Saskatchewan’s children’s hospital, the family began receiving regular care in Winnipeg — care that was funded by the province.
With the opening of the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon, that funding for out-of-province care was terminated and the Cherepuschaks began travelling to Saskatoon instead.
“It’s absolutely silly,” said Natasha, who, like her husband Rob, works as a schoolteacher. “And then we pay for fuel, we pay for meals. Meela misses school … and we’re both teachers and we value education. She should not have to miss a full day of school and possibly activities depending on what time they schedule us.
“And this isn’t even following diagnosis. This is now just routine checkups, which are important, but you go all that way and they are short usually.”
The issue was also raised Wednesday by the Saskatchewan NDP, with shadow health minister Meara Conway holding a press conference at the provincial legislature.
There, she called for the Saskatchewan Party government to “restore reliable access to pediatric diabetic services” in Regina.
That request followed the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s recent decision — communicated in an Aug. 28 letter to patients and their families — to shutter the Southern Saskatchewan Pediatric Diabetes Program based out of Regina due to staffing shortages.
“For families managing Type 1 diabetes, consistent access to specialized pediatric care is critical,” said Conway. “Disruptions to services can mean longer drives, additional appointments and greater uncertainty about when and where their kids can receive the care that they need.”
Conway was joined at Wednesday’s event by Regina resident Mick Panko, whose 10-year-old son Eli was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in April.
“One of the things that we know, with the potential to have to travel on an ongoing basis, is that it puts pressure on resources that families may or may not have,” said Panko. “I think about, for us, we received a notification this week that Eli's next appointment had been moved to Saskatoon at the beginning of next month, and we're very fortunate in that we have the resources. That's something that we can manage and navigate as a family, but we know that not every family has those resources.”
