Wood file: Sometimes the better team doesn't win
Canada was snakebit in the gold medal hockey game, and sometimes, even when you dominate the other team, you come up sho...
Since a closure just before Christmas, fewer people have been able to get a PET scan in Saskatchewan.
The province’s sole PET scan machine, until one proposed for Regina is purchased, closed for two days just before Christmas.
Read more:
- Sask. Health Minister calls opposition hospital concerns ‘misrepresented’
- ‘Worse than it’s ever been’: NDP sounds the alarm on overcapacity ERs at Sask. hospitals
- ER nurse says more beds in hallways than in rooms at RUH
A PET (positron emission tomography) scan is a nuclear imaging test that shows how someone’s organs and tissues are functioning.
It highlights areas of high energy use like cancer cells, infections or brain activity using a special radioactive tracer and can be combined with a CT scan for greater details to assist doctors in diagnosing and planning treatments and surgeries. PETs can also detect early signs of diseases like cancer and brain conditions.
“This is a critical piece of equipment that helps in the diagnosis of a number of very, very life threatening conditions,” said the Saskatchewan NDP’s Keith Jorgenson, MLA for Saskatoon Churchill-Wildwood.
Saskatchewan NDP’s Keith Jorgenson, MLA for Saskatoon Churchill-Wildwood, discusses the closure of Saskatchewan’s only PET/CT scanner on Jan. 6, 2026. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)
Erin Neufeld agrees. Her father has lung cancer and has been waiting a couple of months for a PET scan and cannot proceed with treatment until that scan is complete.
Neufeld said that her father had called her after being notified that his appointment for the scan had been cancelled on Monday because the PET scan machine was reportedly down.
“We got through the holidays thinking and knowing that we were finally going to have the scan done and … the stage that we could get treatment started,” Neufeld said.
She called Royal University Hospital herself to confirm the appointment change and said she was told by someone in the PET scan department that the machine had been shut down on Dec. 23.
At present, Saskatoon has the only PET/CT machine in the province and, as yet, has no date to resume operation. As of Aug. 26, 2024, a request for proposal had been issued by the Government of Saskatchewan for a new PET scan machine at Regina’s Pasqua Hospital.
In a statement, the Saskatchewan Health Authority said it is working with the Ministry of Health to expand medical imaging at Pasqua hospital, and further details will be announced to the public as work progresses.
According to the health authority, the closure of the machine was due solely to a shortage of a radioactive tracer known as fludeoxyglucose (FDG), which has a short shelf life that limits its use. The health authority said FDG is required for most PET/CT scans to be performed, even if the scanner itself is fully functional.
FDG in Saskatchewan is sourced from the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation in Saskatoon, but an “unexpected production issue” on Dec. 23 was responsible for the limited availability of the substance.
The health authority said 27 patient appointments were temporarily cancelled between Dec. 23 and 24.
A temporary supply of FDG was secured from Ontario on Dec. 29, which has reportedly allowed PET/CT services to resume in Saskatchewan, though at half regular capacity for the time being.
“Imaging teams are prioritizing the most urgent cases while working to reschedule remaining patients as additional supply becomes available,” the release from the health authority read.
“We acknowledge the impact this has on patients waiting for medical imaging and remain committed to working closely with the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation as they address the production issue.”
The health authority stated that it “strives to provide timely access to diagnostic imaging services for residents across Saskatchewan, particularly for patients requiring cancer care and other critical diagnoses.”
Saskatchewan NDP’s Betty Nippi-Albright, Saskatchewan NDP MLA for Saskatoon Centre, voices her frustration over the December closure of Saskatchewan’s only PET/CT scanner during a news conference on Jan. 6, 2026. Erin Neufeld is pictured left. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)
Jorgenson and Betty Nippi-Albright, Saskatchewan NDP MLA for Saskatoon Centre, are voicing criticism for the government’s “lack of ability to anticipate problems,” according to Jorgenson.
Noting the age of the machine in Saskatoon — which first began operation in 2013 — Nippi-Albright is frustrated that more hasn’t been done by the Saskatchewan government since the last time the machine was shut down in 2018.
“If you’re driving around in a 30-year-old van and it keeps breaking, at some point, your employer should probably replace it,” Jorgenson quipped.
“The anxiety that families are going through waiting to get the diagnosis that they need and then being told that the equipment that helps the PET scan is down or something is down, and there is no date of when it’s going to be opening or happening,” Nippi-Albright said.
“It’s really a lot of stress on families and individuals when they’ve been hoping and praying for help, and it’s not there.”
Both Nippi-Albright and Jorgenson used the word “appalling” to describe the situation facing families in need of a PET/CT scan, like Neufeld’s, who are being met with delays.
“I think that most people, the one word you don’t want to hear when you go to the doctor is cancer, and so that then to get a cancer diagnosis and then have that anxiety of where you’re waiting, in this case, in excess of two months before you can start treatment on a cancer that is probably lethal,” Jorgenson said.
The cost of alternative options is also concerning for Neufeld. Depending on which type of scan her father needs, she could bring him to Edmonton for a more prompt scan and pay between $1800 and $4000 for him to undergo the imaging there. That cost doesn’t include their travel expenses.
According to Neufeld, her dad is tough and doing well for the time being, but she is determined to see him beat his diagnosis.
“If I had one of the most deadly forms of cancer, I would not want to wait 70 days to start treatment,” Jorgenson commented.
At this time, the health authority is working to reschedule appointments that have been temporarily cancelled based on urgency. Saskatchewan Health Authority media relations said future PET/CT appointments may still need to be moved or rescheduled because of the scanner’s current reduced capacity.
The health authority said it has not received word from the System Flow Coordination Centre on when the PET/CT scanner will be operating fully again.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct an error. The previous headline indicated the PET scanner in Saskatoon was “out of commission indefinitely.” In fact, it is operating at half capacity, according to the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Read more:
