Gov’t turning to outside help for review of doctor culture in Regina hospitals

The Government of Saskatchewan is reaching for help outside the province as it works to address issues within Regina’s doctor community.

The provincial government made the announcement Monday, with Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill saying in a news release there have been alleged incidents of conflict and a lack of “collegiality and professionalism.” Speaking to reporters, Cockrill wouldn’t give specifics, except mentioning previous reports of racism.

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In November last year, the NDP noted in Question Period that 10 doctors at the Regina General Hospital had filed a human rights complaint alleging they’d experienced racism and discrimination from the hospital’s leaders. At that time, then-Health Minister Everett Hindley said he’d spoken with senior health leaders and the Saskatchewan Health Authority had undertaken a third-party review.

Now, the government will bring in two out-of-province doctors to review the whole system.

One of the consultants is from Ontario, and the other is from Nova Scotia. The government described the pair as highly respected and experienced medical leaders who bring decades of experience with them.

Cockrill said misconduct allegations are something government takes seriously.

“We want our health-care system to be one where people feel comfortable and safe working and want to come and work here in Saskatchewan,” the minister said

“I think it’s fair to say, in any work environment where if there’s a reputation of a culture that isn’t conducive to collegiality, it might be hard to recruit people there,” he added.

Cockrill explained the consultants will interview a variety of specialists in Regina in order to understand the issues and try to find solutions.

“It’s really important that we have a couple of sets of outside eyes look at it,” he said. “Certainly, we want to get the most neutral eyes on it that we can.”

According to the government news release, the consultants are expected to start by doing virtual interviews with local leaders from the health authority, the College of Medicine and members of the local community.

Cockrill said this won’t be an investigation of one or two doctors, as the government believes this is a broader problem involving multiple members of the medical community in the city.

He wouldn’t give a number of complaints that have been received, but said Regina is the area where the ministry has seen the most significant number of complaints.

The consultants are expected to be in Regina early in the new year to conduct the review, and the government expects the work to be finished in the spring. Cockrill couldn’t give a price tag for the review, saying that answer will come as the work progresses.

Saskatchewan NDP health critic Vicki Mowat. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

The Saskatchewan NDP’s health critic Vicki Mowat said racism in any health facility is completely unacceptable.

“We need to see swift action when complaints like this are taking place. We need a thorough investigation into what has taken place there, and we know that these issues can also impact recruitment and retention of other health-care workers. This is not what we want to be known for, so we need to make sure that it’s dealt with as quickly as possible,” said Mowat.

She said any review needs to be done by someone independent, it needs to be a transparent process, the government needs to make sure the findings are made public, and there must be awareness of what’s changed as a result of the review.