Sask. Opposition says sending patients to Alta. for breast cancer diagnostics costs nearly 10 times as much

Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP criticized the provincial government Monday for sending patients to Alberta for mammograms, stating it costs 10 times as much as it would to do them from Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan Health Minister Everett Hindley announced last week that the government would be sending patients on an urgent waiting list to Calgary for out-of-province breast cancer diagnostic procedures. 

He said a contract with the private company Clearpoint covers 1,000 procedures and is in place until March 2025. The province plans to spend about $3.5 million on the initiative, including paying patients' medical and travel expenses.

"This is a short-term solution to address the unacceptable wait time for scans, for biopsies, for Saskatchewan," Hindley said Monday.

He previously told reporters that there are 350 people in Saskatchewan waiting for breast cancer screenings on an average 10-week wait time. He said it should be a three week wait.

During a back-and-forth between Hindley and NDP Leader Carla Beck in the Legislature, Beck said the plan will cost about $2,000 per scan compared to the $206.20 in Saskatchewan.

"Why are we paying almost 10 times more for women to get scans in Calgary instead of building up the capacity to do these scans here at home?" she asked.

In an email, an NDP spokesperson clarified Beck's comments didn't include the approximately $1.5 million in travel and accommodation reimbursements.

Hindley responded by saying the Opposition is more focused on the money than the health of residents.

He also said the province is also taking long- and medium-term initiatives to address vacancies for specialized breast radiologists. In the meantime, it extended service hours in Regina and Saskatoon and expanded capacity in regional sites across Saskatchewan, he said.

Hindley said people have already started accepting offers to go to Calgary for the procedures. Beck suggested that doesn't prove it's effective.

"No kidding, people who are on an urgent wait list for a mammogram with a lump are taking him up on the offer, but as I said, it doesn't have to be this way," Beck said.