Saskatchewan sending breast cancer patients to Calgary to tackle backlogs
CBC
The Saskatchewan government says it's going to send breast cancer patients to Calgary for screening as the province continues to deal with medical imaging backlogs.
Health Minister Everett Hindley told reporters Wednesday the province has contracted Clearpoint, a private health company, to offer 1,000 scans, and the province will contact eligible patients.
He said the contract with Clearpoint is in place until March 2025. The province plans to spend about $3.5 million on the plan, covering patients' medical and travel expenses.
"Ideally we don't want to be doing this," Hindley said.
The announcement comes as patients raise concerns about the long waits to receive medical imaging in the province.
Hindley said about 350 people are waiting for breast cancer screening, with the average wait about 10 weeks.
The ideal wait time should be three weeks, he said.
"This is a short-term solution where we're able to cut this wait list down and provide women with these options to travel to Calgary to get this done."
Health-care staff have also been ringing alarms about the state of the system.
Before the announcement, a group of health-care technologists employed at one of Regina's hospitals warned short staffing could result in patients waiting longer for imaging.
Bashir Jalloh, president of a local CUPE union representing the workers, told reporters that by January only two CT technologists will be working at the Pasqua Hospital in Regina.
"All of it is terrible," Jalloh said of the situation.
Christy Labreche, a nuclear medicine technologist at the hospital, said her department is short-staffed because employees are choosing to leave the province.
Labreche, who stood with six other technologists, said the province needs to increase their pay and improve working conditions to ensure people stay.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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