Sask. launches review of workplace culture at Regina hospitals amid complaints of conflict, racism
CBC
Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health is bringing in two out-of-province consultants to investigate the workplace culture at Regina's hospitals amid complaints of conflict and racism.
The province says two unnamed but "highly respected, experienced medical leaders" — one from Ontario and one from Nova Scotia — have been contracted to carry out the independent external review.
Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said Monday that there have been allegations of misconduct identified "over the last couple of years," but declined to offer specific examples.
"Certainly there's been allegations of racism, as one example, in the physician community over the last number of years. Certainly that's something that we take very seriously," Cockrill said after the review was announced.
The Official Opposition NDP pointed to an incident it raised last year in the legislature.
In November 2023, the NDP highlighted that 11 doctors — all trained in Africa or east Asia — reported racism and discrimination from hospital leadership, ultimately filing a complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.
The complaint alleged management gave sought-after teaching shifts exclusively to white doctors.
"These concerns need to be taken very seriously and we raised these issues a year ago, and so we need to see swift action when complaints like this are taking place," said Saskatchewan NDP health critic Vicki Mowat.
Cockrill stressed that the review is not an investigation of specific physicians but "a review of the entire physician community and culture within the city of Regina."
He said the issues have been long-standing.
The consultants will begin their review by holding virtual interviews with local leaders from the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, and other members of the local medical community in an attempt to understand the challenges and experiences of those working in Regina hospitals.
Early next year, they'll visit Regina to conduct in-person interviews with local medical staff, assess the current issues, identify the root causes of the problems and provide recommendations to the Ministry of Health and the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Cockrill said the review will guide short-term and long-term actions to improve workplace culture in Regina.
The review is expected to be completed in the spring of 2025.
The soccer world may be coming to Toronto this summer, but right now the city is just waiting for the province to show up.
With less than six weeks to go, preparations are ramping up for the 2026 Montana's Brier in St. John's — including the release of one last full batch of tickets on Tuesday at 12 p.m. NT.
Within weeks of Robinson Huron Treaty settlement money landing in people’s bank accounts, police in several northern Ontario First Nations say something else arrived too: drug traffickers, financial scammers and a surge in violent crime.
Some people who work in recycling and waste diversion say more sharps — medical needles used for injections — are ending up in Nova Scotia's waste streams and they think it's time for provincial regulations.
As Doreen Paul scrolls through photos on her phone, Bronson Paul's life flashes by.
Quebec City police have confirmed that the remains recovered from the St. Lawrence River last week are those of Susana Rocha Cruz, who had been missing since mid-January.
The Winnipeg Airports Authority wants to develop land west of Richardson International Airport to make way for a proposed WestJet maintenance facility, sources at city hall said.
Bob Behari is planning his dream project on a prime piece of land overlooking the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon’s Nutana neighbourhood.
Saskatchewan’s Notre Dame Hounds made an unexpected stop in Rathwell, Man., Friday night after their bus went off the road into a snowbank.
Herb Dickieson is no longer in the running to be leader of the New Democratic Party of Prince Edward Island.
A commission reviewing Alberta’s electoral boundaries suggests Edmonton should have 21 ridings — up from its current 20 — but some Edmontonians say the city should have more than that, based on the growing population.
A worsening problem with human feces in and around East Vancouver's Grandview Park became one of the reasons for B.C. resident Zoe Raffard to move out of the city permanently.
In a first step toward modernizing residential care facilities, the City of Hamilton will change the way it funds privately run, subsidized homes.