Work on Regina Urgent Care Centre in final stretch

The construction of Regina’s new Urgent Care Centre — which could provide relief for long waiting times in emergency rooms — is nearing completion.

A tour showcasing the progress of the new facility was held Tuesday, allowing members of the media to walk around the facility and see the features and services it will provide.

Many of the rooms within the centre remain empty as construction continues. Work isn’t expected to be finished until early 2024.

The facility at 1320 Albert St. is being built by Graham Construction. So far, the company has successfully finished the essential aspects, including the structure, roofing, interior framing, electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and drywall work.

The final elements of the facility including the interior finishings are being added, encompassing paint, trim, wall protection, flooring and millwork. That will bring the facility closer to full operational status.

Once construction is complete, teams from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) will work to install equipment, train medical teams, verify patient flow plans and prepare to welcome patients.

The Urgent Care Centre is to function as an alternative to hospital emergency departments for non-life-threatening illnesses, injuries, and mental health support that requires treatment before the following day. The facility will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Construction on the facility at the corner of Albert Street and Seventh Avenue began in 2022 and initially was expected to be completed in mid-2023.

Premier Scott Moe was on hand and spoke about the progress of the facility, saying it will help to relieve the pressures faced in the city’s hospitals.

“The need specifically for urgent care is clear; our emergency rooms in our province and our large centres are facing challenges,” Moe said. “Facilities like this urgent care facility will help alleviate the pressures in our emergency rooms and ensure that Saskatchewan residents are able to receive the care that they need.”

The premier spoke about the growing need for facilities within the province and the current strain on hospitals.

“Saskatchewan as a province and our communities, they continue to grow, and we welcome that growth from all corners of the province,” he said. “But as this province grows, we are working hard as a government to keep pace with the demands on our health-care system.

“One of the ways that we can meet the needs of growth is by building important health-care infrastructure, innovative in a new service delivery model in our health-care infrastructure like this facility that we gather in today. This construction of this Urgent Care Centre is part of the government’s work to ensure that Saskatchewan people can access the care they need when they need it.

“We’re not aware of anywhere else in Canada that is venturing into this space, and I think with all of the discussions around changing how we deliver health care, this is that discussion in action.”

SHA CEO Andrew Will said the facility will house a large number of staff members.

“The planning process for staff is underway, and it’ll include a fairly robust complement of staff, including registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, lab imaging staff, reception staff, and about 120 (full-time employees) that will staff this building, so it’s going to be a very busy hub of service delivery,” said Will.

Nurses in the province have raised concerns about staffing issues in hospitals, so it’s not clear if and how that issue will affect staffing at the urgent care centres in Regina and Saskatoon.

The provincial government is funding the Regina and Saskatoon care centres through its $2-billion economic stimulus program. Moe was asked about the budget for the facilities — initially set at $30 million — and if the government expected to potentially pay more than that.

“The increase in construction costs has not gone unnoticed by any level of government for sure, but it hasn’t also gone unnoticed by the private sector,” he said. “You compile that in the private sector in particular with the increased interest rates that we were seeing.

“These are some of the challenges that we were facing in our investment attraction initiatives across the province, and so the cost of construction is up.”

The facility has received investments from the Hospitals of Regina Foundation in the form of $2.42 million in priority technology, equipment, furniture and fixtures, and the Kinsmen Foundation with $305,250 to pay for its X-ray system.

The final stages of construction for the Regina centre are expected to be completed early in 2024, with the facility expected to open to the public in the summer of 2024.

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