REGINA, Sask. — Opposition New Democrats raised concerns Monday about a shortage of nuclear medicine technologists in Regina.
NDP Shadow Minister Jacqueline Roy spoke to media about the issue outside Regina General Hospital. She pointed to a letter sent to the NDP caucus last Friday that stated staffing in Regina has “now reached a critical point.”
According to the letter, Regina requires 14 full-time nuclear medicine technologists, along with casual staff, to operate at full capacity. Roy said, according to the letter, there are four vacant full-time positions. Two part-time positions are also vacant, and there are no casuals available.
“The technologists tell us that one to two nuclear medicine cameras are not operating every single day … at both Pasqua Hospital and Regina General Hospital,” said Roy, saying the reason is a shortage of workers.
“These departments are operating at around 50 to 70 per cent of their available capacity right now. This is indeed deeply concerning. We do have the equipment. We have patients and doctors waiting for vital treatment information. But we don't have the health-care workers to operate the equipment to get those answers.”
Roy blamed it on “Sask Party health-care chaos through and through, time and time again.”
Roy also claimed the issues are entirely preventable, pointing to wages. She said the nuclear medicine technologists say Saskatchewan's current wage is $39.22 an hour.
“The median wage in neighbouring Alberta is $46 an hour with a top wage of $55 an hour. According to this letter, four nuclear medicine technologists have already left for better-paying jobs in the past year, and that's just in Regina alone. Another two are expected to retire next year. Yet the government says it wants to expand services right here in Regina. All talk and no action, no plan, and quite frankly this resembles the urgent care centre crisis and expansion in Regina all over again.”
Roy called on Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill to “come clean on why he has abandoned these workers.”
“We must confirm whether the information contained in this letter is indeed accurate, and he must tell us exactly in detail, and I mean exactly in detail, what the plan is, what are the specifics here. Not vague comments like ‘Patients First’ or that ‘we listen to health-care workers’ or that ‘things will change soon.’ This clearly is not the case.”
SaskToday has reached out to the province for a response and will update the story once one is provided.
