Government announces $30M to build Urgent Care Centers in Regina and Saskatoon

The provincial government has decided to spend $30 million to establish two urgent care centers in Regina and Saskatoon, in order to reduce the pressure on emergency rooms in big cities.

Each center will cost $15 million and will be funded through the government’s expanded $7.5 billion in stimulus funds to revive the economy which has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. They were unveiled in two announcements in Regina and Saskatoon on Monday (Sept 21).

The Minister of Health Jim Reiter has announced the Regina urgent care center project in front of Pasqua Hospital on Monday morning. He further confirmed that its location has yet to be determined and construction is scheduled to start in the year 2022, although he called that a “cautious” estimate and hopes it will begin as early as possible.

He added, “People in Regina will soon have another option when they need immediate health care services, and when they choose that option, they will be reducing wait times in our emergency rooms.”

The purpose of these centers is to treat patients who can’t wait a day for care or treatment, but whose condition is not life threatening. These may include suturing and casting small bone fractures, asthma respiratory care and infection treatment. It also includes emergency mental health care. According to the plan, diagnostic imaging, laboratory and pharmaceutical services will also be provided on-site.

The urgent care centers will also provide mental health and addiction services such as assessments, therapies, brief treatments and prescription services to treat people in crisis or at risk of “rapid deterioration” due to mental health problems. This does not include suicidal tendencies, which put people directly at risk of committing suicide.

These urgent care centers will open for 24 hours each day, 7 days a week and their staff will includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, mental health professionals, addictions workers and social workers.

The minister said that these urgent care centers will not be a “panacea” for pressures on the emergency room, but will help to reduce the growing stress. He pointed out that the number of patients who ended up in the emergency rooms is at the low end of the triage level. For example, only 36 per cent of emergency room visits to the Pasquale Hospital and it fall into the category he mentioned.

He also expressed concern about the pressure on the emergency room in Saskatchewan as a symptom of the population growth in the province. But NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat said that this did not happen overnight, and the provincial funding has not kept up.

She said, “I don’t think it goes far enough. It is a drop in the bucket of what’s needed.”