Breast cancer initiative sending patients to Alberta is reducing Sask. wait list

With Saskatchewan struggling to keep up with breast cancer care, an initiative sending patients to Calgary to receive care is bringing down the wait list by 87 per cent.

The NDP says Saskatchewan needs to put in more effort for residents to receive care at home.

“When you’re paying upwards of 10 times as much money to send someone out of province for basic breast diagnostics, it’s very concerning and it speaks to me about the fact that this government is not prioritizing health care and not prioritizing health care for women in this province,” said Vicki Mowat, Sask. NDP deputy leader.

But Breast Cancer Canada CEO Kimberly Carson says having the alternative of out of province care is a step in the right direction.

“It’s maybe not ideal, but at least tackling the program and finding a solution that’s working, and it’s showing the difference in the results right now,” Carson said. “So, I applaud any province that tries to deal with wait times, tackling these big issues. It can’t be easy.”

With the province adding more diagnostics and lowering the age of access for a mammogram, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill says he doesn’t want to take his foot off the gas.

“I’ve said it in the house: we will turn over every rock we need to, to make sure patients get the timely care they need,” Cockrill said.

While Carson says getting out of province care isn’t ideal, it can still be life-changing.

“We know that the health care systems across the country are having a hard time keeping up,” Carson said. “So, anything that we can do to make sure that patients are screened and screened early and properly and that they have access to treatment as quickly as possible, those outcomes are so much different.”

Watch above for more on the Saskatchewan breast cancer wait list decreasing.