LIFESAVING PICC LINES STILL UNAVAILABLE AT REGINA HOSPITALS

Failures in Sask. Party’s recruitment strategy leaving hospitals without adequate staffing according to internal memos

REGINA – Despite a leaked internal memo stating that short-staffing affecting PICC line procedures would end on Oct. 3, patients are shedding new light on the dire nature of Regina’s hospitals as failures in the Sask. Party’s recruitment strategy are still leading to chronic staff shortages. The widespread shortages specifically include interventional radiologists in Regina, who have specialized skills to insert lifesaving PICC lines or ports.

“This is a failure of the Sask. Party Government to provide vital, potentially lifesaving healthcare to the people of this province,” said Vicki Mowat, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Health.

“The physician-shortage issue has been ongoing for years and we’ve seen no progress. More than 4,000 frontline healthcare workers left the profession last year alone and this has caused an unprecedented crisis in our hospitals and clinics.

“The Sask. Party has refused to even acknowledge the crisis and have left our healthcare in last place. We need a plan to get Saskatchewan people the healthcare they need and deserve.”

PICC and port lines are both types of central venous catheters that allow for long-term access to the bloodstream. They are used to administer medication, blood, nutrition, or fluids into the bloodstream, or to obtain blood samples.

However, despite the memo stating that disruptions would end on Oct. 3, the shortage is continuing to affect patients, patients like Lynn Robertson.

Robertson was diagnosed with cancer for a third time in June 2024. She was confirmed to have breast cancer and had a double mastectomy in September. Robertson was informed in October that she would need six chemotherapy treatments, one every three weeks. She was referred for a PICC line on Oct. 17, the day that she had her initial appointment with her oncologist, but was informed that there would be a waitlist and that “it was long”.

Robertson has undergone two chemotherapy treatments without a PICC or port line to date, at which times she has experienced chemotherapy burns and pain, due to multiple attempts at finding her veins. She was informed that there are currently no interventional radiologists in Regina to insert PICC lines or ports.

"In the midst of a cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy treatments, it is appalling to me that I have had to work so hard to advocate for myself for a PICC line or port insertion without any hope that this will happen before my treatments are completed,” Robertson said.

“My body has already been through more than enough after three cancer diagnoses. When the waitlists for PICC lines and port insertions are as long as they are in Regina, it is inexcusable that the Ministry of Health is not actively trying to reduce these wait times when there are solutions out there."

-30-

Latest posts

SCOTT MOE’S REFUSAL TO PROVIDE RELIEF KEEPS SMALL BUSINESSES UNDER WATER

Retail Sales Growth In Saskatchewan Dead-Last, Financial Anxiety For Consumers Highest In Canada
SASKATOON - Carla Beck’s team is standing with a Saskatoon small business owner, calling out Scott Moe for refusing to provide any relief despite sky-high costs, which will only be made worse by new tariffs.

REGINA PEDIATRIC DIABETIC CARE CHANGES LEAVE RURAL FAMILIES FEELING ABANDONED

Scott Moe’s Minister Brushed Off Changes Last Week, Said Health Authority Could Have Communicated Better
WOLSELEY — A mother from Wolseley is speaking out about an abrupt and harmful change to pediatric diabetic care in Regina that she says has disrupted care for her family and made an already difficult situation even harder to navigate.

SASK. PARTY MLA KEVIN WEEDMARK HOPSCOTCHED SASKATCHEWAN BY PRIVATE JET — WHO PAID?

Deleted Staff Video Shows Sask. Party’s Extravagant, Out-of-Touch ‘Day in the Life’
REGINA — Carla Beck’s Saskatchewan NDP is demanding answers after a Sask. Party MLA spent the day hopscotching Saskatchewan aboard a private jet — an extravagant “day in the life” documented by his own staff person in a since-deleted video.

CARLA BECK'S TEAM ONCE AGAIN CALLS ON SCOTT MOE TO GET BACK TO WORK AS TRUMP TRADE WAR ESCALATES

Sask. Party Continues To Play Political Games While Trump's Tariffs Damage Saskatchewan Industry and Jobs in Moose Jaw
MOOSE JAW – Carla Beck's team is calling on Scott Moe yet again to cancel his tee times, stop working on his summertime tan and get back to work addressing the serious harm being caused to hardworking Saskatchewan people amid the escalating trade war with Donald Trump.

NDP Caucus Office