Scott Moe’s Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill also admitted during budget estimates last week that there were 2,517 people in the queue for screening mammograms in Regina alone, saying that 66 per cent of them would likely wait up to four months for their appointment, with the remaining 34 per cent likely waiting up to six weeks.
“But that’s no guarantee — I hear all the time from women waiting up to a year or more, who are scared for their safety and well-being,” said Jacqueline Roy, Shadow Minister for Women’s Health.
“Over 2,500 women in Regina are waiting months and months to be added to the waitlist for essential healthcare, in the birthplace of Canadian Medicare, that is yet another colossal failure by Scott Moe.”
On March 25, the Sask. Party Government issued an Order In Council that extended the $2.4 million mammogram contract with Canadian Surgery Solutions Ltd, a Sask. Party Donor, until March 31, 2027. This contract, which has seen over 600 patients sent to Alberta, was described by the government in 2023 as “temporary.”
“Since 2023, women have been forced to leave their province because Scott Moe has so badly mismanaged the healthcare system that it can’t provide the basic level of care,” Roy said. “Days ago, we learned that the Sask. Party is extending their out-of-province care program, by another year. This once temporary program is now becoming a permanent reality for Saskatchewan women.”
“These waitlists will only get longer as tens of thousands of more women over the age of 40 become able to refer themselves beginning in just a few months. Healthcare workers and patients alike tell me they’re scared. This government has failed to prepare for what it knew would be coming for years,” Roy said.
“It’s time for change.”
-30-