New Breast Health Centre opening in Regina next year

Construction is underway for the province’s new Breast Health Centre in Regina.

The provincial government has invested a total of $3.6 million this year for the centre’s renovations, staffing and diagnostic equipment.

Health Minister Everett Hindley said the centre is set to open next March.
“This new breast health centre will provide a wide variety of services including diagnostic imaging, biopsies, specialist consultations, patient education and navigation to other on-site post-treatment therapies and rehabilitation,” he said.

The centre will help upwards of 5000 patients a year from Regina and across southern Saskatchewan.

Currently, two new surgeons have been hired as well as a nurse navigator with plans to hire another.
“We’re trying to recruit people that would be new,” Hindley said. “So that we’re not redirecting or relocating from other parts of the province. There’s two local Regina radiologists that are actually away on completing their breast fellowships right now and anticipated to be completed by September or January. So they’d be coming back to Saskatchewan.”

The goal is to be fully staffed well before the grand opening.
“We’re working towards that end-of-fiscal year opening date so we want to ensure that all that work when it comes to staffing is happening now as we speak so that when construction is completed here that we are able to open this centre fully staffed,” he said.

One surgeon, in particular, is very excited to get to work in the health centre.

Dr. Sarah Miller is counting down the seconds until she gets to work in the new breast health centre in Regina. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

“I honestly cannot wait to start working here,” said Dr. Sarah Miller.

She has been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work with the project and is eager to see the finished product.

“There is certainly much more work to be done but my optimism remains ever present,” she said. “We all share the goal of making this a phenomenal space which will provide a much-improved experience for our physicians, allied health care workers and most importantly our patients and their families.”

She explains hiring staff for a centre like this is different than an urgent care or hospital for example.

“Our reliance is more on having the surgeons,” she said. “We’re going to have the surgeons in place which is great. We’re working on the breast radiology piece. We have one nurse navigator, we want to have another one. And then it’s a lot of administrative office staffing in comparison,” said Miller. “It’s similar to a clinic, but it’s a great multi-disciplinary clinic so it’s not like we’re going to have to take nursing staff from an emergency room into our facility here. So that’s where it’s a little bit different.”

She said a facility like this will make recruitment easier.
“Having this (facility) is going to make a big difference,” said Miller. “The big difference is if you are going out and doing a fellowship in breast cancer care, you’re working in a facility like this. So to come to a city where that was not previously available, that’s going to be less attractive than a location that actually has it.”

The layout for the new Breast Health Centre which is aimed to open in Regina by March 2025. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

The long wait times take a toll on the patients, Miller is hoping this facility will take away some of the stress and delays.
“It’s incredibly difficult,” she said. “You’re trying to work within a system that is sort of busting at the seams so you’re making due with what you have available. It’s hard not to take those kinds of stories home.”

Hindley said the province is also working to expand operations in Saskatoon and Moose Jaw.
“We’re also collaborating with the SHA to increase access to diagnostic breast cancer services,” he said. “This includes temporarily expanding breast cancer diagnostic imaging capacity in the cities of Saskatoon and Moose Jaw to support patients from Regina and southern Saskatchewan. Since late November, we have redirected more than 220 patients from Regina to receive their diagnostic breast procedures in Saskatoon or Moose Jaw.”

There is also a focus on cutting down on long wait times.
“To improve turn around times for biopsy results in our major lab centres in Regina and Saskatoon, we are also investing in additional lab resources and technology,” Hindley said. “This includes additional lab technologists as well as technologies to streamline processes and support more patient-friendly services like the new breast tumour localization procedures.”

In March, the province also announced it would expand the screening age for women aged 40-49. This will be done in a phased approach starting in 2025.

“We know that we have to have capacity in the system so that’s why it’s happening in a phased approach,” Hindley explained.

Last year, the province announced it would start sending breast cancer patients to Calgary for diagnostic testing.  Over 300 patients were sent to Alberta.

“We can report that as of the end of May, 307 patients have been referred and approximately 242 patients have already had their diagnostic procedures completed,” Hindley said.

There is no exact cost of sending these patients out of the province.

“When we announced that in the fall I think it’s at two million dollars to perform up to 1000 of these procedures at the clinic in Calgary,” Hindley said. “We only pay for the ones as they get referred and accepted, so we only pay for what we use. It’s scheduled to go until the end of March next year.”

The Saskatchewan NDP is not so optimistic. Opposition Health Critic Vicki Mowat said a facility like this is long overdue.
“We’ve been calling for better breast care for months but have zero faith that the Sask. Party will be able to fix the crisis they created,” she said in a statement.

She thinks it is unreasonable to ask patients to wait months or travel outside of the province to receive the medical care they need.

“After 17 years under the Sask. Party, women are waiting over a year or traveling to Calgary for basic mammograms because this government is driving healthcare workers out of the province,” Mowat said. “The longer this tired and out-of-touch government is in power, the further women will have to travel for basic care.”