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Once again a lack of doctors means that hours will be reduced at Regina Urgent Care Centre this weekend.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) said in a news release on March 6 that the centre will only be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m on March 7 and 8 to “accommodate physician availability” and “proactively ensure the availability of services.”
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The centre will return to its regular hours of operation of 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Monday, the SHA said.
Patients experiencing medical emergencies when the centre is closed should call 9-1-1 or go to an emergency department at either Regina General Hospital or Pasqua Hospital, the SHA said.
Since the beginning of the year, the centre has reduced its hours nine times — on Jan. 2, Jan, 5, Jan. 17, Jan. 18, Jan. 25, Feb. 20, Feb. 21, Feb. 22 and Feb. 24 — with a shortage of doctors cited as the reason. The centre also closed early a number of times in 2025.
The centre was designed to provide another option for people who were not able to see their primary care provider on short notice while avoiding emergency department visits for serious but non-life-threatening injuries or illnesses like cuts, burns, sprains, breaks, mental health issues, flu and to access addictions services.
In July 2025, the Saskatchewan NDP said it was an “abject failure” centre was not yet open 24 hours a day, seven days a week but the SHA told 980 CJME then it had no timeline for when the centre would expand its hours to operate 24 hours a day.
“We have plans to operate it for the hours that we are open currently,” explained Sheila Anderson, the health authority’s vice-president of integrated Regina health.
“(We’re) always looking for opportunities if there is a need in the future to be open 24 hours.”
The Health Minister didn’t provide a response to questions around the urgent care centre then but sent a statement saying the Regina centre had seen 41,000 patients in its first year, that patient volumes were aligning closely with the original projections for 24-hour care, and that the centre is “functioning as intended.”
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