REGINA – The Opposition New Democrats are once again attacking the Sask Party government over staffing levels and reduced hours at Regina Urgent Care Centre.
Speaking at a media availability Thursday morning outside the Urgent Care Centre, NDP Rural and Remote Health critic Jared Clarke accused the government of being “more focused on the appearance of fixing healthcare rather than actually fixing it.”
He pointed to the government’s plans to build a second urgent care centre in Saskatoon and other urgent care facilities elsewhere in the province.
“Now, before Scott Moe starts planning a second urgent care centre, Saskatchewan people have one very important and simple question. Why can you not staff the first one?”
He pointed to election promises that the Regina Urgent Care Centre would provide 24 hours a day, seven days a week care.
“Now, that promise was broken. Today the centre operates from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and even those reduced hours are regularly cut because there simply aren't enough healthcare workers to keep it open. Staff working at the centre have told us that if someone shows up after 12 noon on many days, there is little chance they will receive care before the building closes. That is the reality.”
Clarke also pointed to information obtained through a Freedom of Information Request that showed that in October 2025, “less than half of the required staff shifts at the Regina Urgent Care Centre were filled.”
“Less than half. So they can't staff it and they can't keep it open as promised and despite that failure, they're already talking about opening another one. So how does this solve anything?”
Clarke also said there was “no evidence that the situation will improve,” pointing to the provincial budget giving that “gave healthcare just a 0.3 per cent increase. That's less than the increase Saskatchewan received through the federal health transfer.”
Clarke also pointed to feedback from over a thousand people in their Your Care, Your Say healthcare consultations.
“We heard from patients, healthcare workers, families and community leaders and not one of those people told us that the answer to Saskatchewan's healthcare crisis was building more Urgent Care Centres,” Clarke said.
“What people told us is they want access to primary care, a family doctor or nurse practitioner. They want emergency rooms in rural Saskatchewan that are open. They want shorter wait times and they told us that they believe in a public healthcare system. They believe that it can be fixed, but they no longer trust the Sask Party to get the job done.”
When further pressed about whether the NDP’s health care plan included urgent care centres, Clarke said “no”.
“Our primary focus is on primary care and ensuring that everyone has access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Regardless of where you live, you should have access to primary care. Just like your child when you move into a new community has access to a school, you should have access to a family doctor, nurse practitioner, team-based model of care.”
As for the government’s moves to hire and license more nurse practitioners to handle primary care duties, Clarke said the government “likes to say the right things, but doing them is another thing.”
Clarke said they have known about the benefits of nurse practitioners for 15 to 20 years and the benefits that they would bring to a team-based primary care model. Yet in the 2026 Patients First plan, “they're still just promising it,” Clarke said.
“Let's actually get this done. People are tired of waiting for the problem to be solved after 20 years of Saskatchewan failure. They want this to be solved today.”
Earlier this week Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill had touted the building of urgent care centres. In a statement he said the construction of Saskatoon’s first Urgent Care Centre continues to progress and is over 70 per cent complete.
"Once open the Saskatoon UCC will give patients an alternative to the emergency department for health concerns that are urgent but non-life-threatening," Cockrill said. "The Regina UCC has served over 75,000 patients since opening in July 2024 and has already shown a positive impact by easing pressure on Regina’s hospital emergency rooms. Additional UCCs are under development for Prince Albert, North Battleford and Moose Jaw as well as second locations in Saskatoon and Regina."
