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Saskatchewan is taking steps to support the detection and treatment of breast cancer.
That includes the opening of a new Breast Health Centre in Regina, which will perform diagnostic imaging, consultations with surgeons and other specialists, education and support for patients, and post-treatment care.
The centre, to be located at Regina Centre Crossing on Albert Street, is expected to open in the 2024-25 fiscal year, the Ministry of Health said.
For Regina Rochdale MLA Laura Ross — a cancer survivor — the centre is personal.
“This is so needed,” she said Tuesday. “(When you’re first diagnosed), your world stops. And the seamlessness of what we’re going to be able to experience here is going to be life-changing for everyone who has ever been diagnosed.”
The province is also expanding eligibility for breast cancer screening to include those aged 40 to 49, a move that brings Saskatchewan in line with a number of other provinces. The screening program is set to expand in January of 2025 using a phased approach, the ministry said, “to allow opportunity to recruit the necessary resources.”
“Work continues to train and recruit medical radiation technologists, sonographers (ultrasound technologists), and radiologists with specialization in breast imaging as part of its ongoing Health Human Resources Action Plan,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ross said the age expansion is important as women are getting diagnosed with breast cancer at an increasingly younger age.
Health Minister Everett Hindley said more details surrounding funding, staffing and capacity of the centre will be revealed with the release of the upcoming budget, as well as the total cost.
“I think this sends a signal across the health-care sector that this is something that is going to be a key focus for us as a government — to make sure that we are reducing these waiting times, making sure that Saskatchewan women are able to get the treatment that they need, when they need it close to home which is what ultimately what they need to be getting,” Hindley said.
“We will have our teams fully engaged to make sure that we’re recruiting, both through the SHA and the Sask. Health Recruitment Agency, to make sure that we have all the staff we need there to make sure this place is operational fully.”
Hindley said the Regina facility would be modelled after Saskatoon’s breast cancer centre.
Dr. Sarah Miller, a Regina surgeon, said the centre would help the province’s efforts with the recruitment of staff. Hindley and Ross noted that having a centre would help streamline the process of screening for breast cancer and or seeking treatment, as they noted the process could be quite frustrating or complicated for patients who often deal with constant referrals.
Miller said she hopes the centre will improve communication to patients.
“The worst part about a cancer diagnosis is the wait — not having a plan (and) not knowing what’s happening,” Miller said.
“With the aid of a breast (cancer) centre, with having a centralized service, we hopefully can provide wait time estimates and also give patients updates.”
Saskatchewan patients have been struggling with long wait times for breast cancer diagnoses, which led the provincial government to send some of the highest-risk patients to a facility in Calgary.
As of Feb. 23, the ministry said 188 Saskatchewan patients had been referred to that Alberta clinic since November, with 131 of them having their diagnostic procedures completed.
Opposition statement
In an emailed statement, NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat said the party has been calling for some of these measures for months and the Opposition has zero faith in the Saskatchewan Party’s ability to fix a crisis she says it created.
“The party that broke women’s health care can’t be trusted to fix it,” she said.
“According to the Canadian Institute of Health Information, doctors are leaving Saskatchewan at a higher rate than almost every other province. This government is struggling to recruit five breast radiologists in Regina, let alone staff a new building.”
