REGINA - Construction of the new Urgent Care Centre at 1320 Albert Street in Regina has reached a significant milestone.
Construction is now 50 per cent complete at the new facility, which will serve as an alternative to emergency rooms for illnesses, injuries, and mental health issues which are urgent but not life threatening.
These would be health issues that may be more appropriately cared for outside of the emergency department setting, but which require treatment before the next day.
According to government officials, Graham Construction has completed over half of the roofing, have fully installed exterior sheeting and have completed three-quarters of the interior framing. Crews are now installing the facility's Heating Venting Air Conditioning, mechanical and electrical systems, which is expected to be in place by spring.
“We are looking to finish construction in October of this year,” said Danae Lemieux of the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement, with the facility expected to open in early 2024.
Work on the site started in 2022. Graham Construction mobilized equipment at 1350 Albert Street to prepare the site for construction in March 2022, with site clearing and demolition happening in April 2022.
Lemieux said construction has gone smoothly, and while there have been some procurement issues in getting items such as equipment and a generator, she said Graham has been “very diligent in procuring things early” so they can open on time.
“Everything has been going well,” said Neal Nicholson from Graham Construction.
“It’s starting to come along. Exterior-wise, the façade is going up, interior-wise the steel studs are going up. Shortly, we will have a building.”
The Saskatchewan Health Authority will own and operate the facility, which will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Christopher Rhinelander, Acting Director of Hospitals and Specialized Services with the Ministry of Health, said this facility will be providing
“urgent care that meets kind of the middle ground between what a patient would need for an emergency department or if they’re not able to see their family doctor.”
The location, which used to be a car lot at one point in time, was selected because of its proximity to Pasqua Hospital not far away to the west on Dewdney Avenue.
It’s expect many of the patients who would go to Pasqua Hospital for less emergent services will now be able to go to the new facility.
“Our hope is that this will assist with some of the wait times and delays in accessing care in the emergency department for people of lower acuity,” said Rhinelander.
There will be x-ray and ultrasound on site and point of care lab testing. If someone presents and is too acute to be cared for at the facility, they will be assessed and transferred to an emergency department.
In addition to the Urgent Care Centre, an emergency ambulance bay will go nearby which will be used for programming.
According to the province, planning for staffing is underway. The intention is to hire a mix of family medicine and emergency doctors, and there will be nurses and lab staff on site. The model of staffing is expected to be complementary and not take away from what else is being offered in the city for health care services. The Urgent Care Centre is expected to have 120 full time equivalent positions once complete.
“The model of care really is new for our province, so there’s going to be some period of adjustment in determining exactly what type of services fit best in an urgent care centre,” said Rhinelander.
The Government of Saskatchewan has committed $15 million to this project, as well as another $15 million for a second urgent care centre in Saskatoon.
