The Saskatchewan NDP is calling out the provincial government for still not providing 24/7 service at Regina’s Urgent Care Centre (UCC).
The UCC opened just over a year ago, with Saskatchewan planning to provide 24-hour service come fall.
Those plans never came to fruition, and recent comments made by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) suggest there’s no timeline for 24/7 service.
“It’s more broken promises, more horrible planning on the part of the government,” said Keith Jorgenson, NDP associate Shadow Health Minister.
Recently, the UCC has also seen reduced hours on weekends. On June 14, the SHA announced reduced hours for the UCC from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Normally, the centre operates from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. No reason was given for the reduced hours.
This was followed by reduced hours on July 6, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The SHA said this was due to a lack of doctors available because of staff holidays time.
“They can’t even keep that one facility staffed in the evenings,” said Jorgenson. “I think it tells a larger story of poor management, poor ability to retain employees, and just sort of chaos in the health-care system.”
The SHA has previously said the UCC is fully staffed, but Jorgenson isn’t convinced this issue won’t happen again, saying it’s putting people’s health in jeopardy.
“They’re really risking people’s lives by not telling them clearly what facilities are open and when [they’re not].“
In a statement sent to SaskToday, the SHA said the UCC is functioning as intended, serving an average of 113 patients and over 41,000 since its opening. These patient volumes are close to the initial 24-hour projections.
As for current hours, the SHA said, “we have a responsibility to operate at a capacity that can reliably provide safe and accessible care.”
Efforts for recruiting staff, including family physicians and nurses, continue to be made, as staffing challenges remain in many areas of Canada.
The SHA said they will continue to closely monitor the performance of the UCC to better serve the community.
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