Province reviewing work environment in Regina hospitals following alleged misconduct

Review of workplace culture in Regina hospitals WATCH: The Saskatchewan government is launching a review of workplace culture in Regina hospitals. Wayne Mantyka reports.

The Government of Saskatchewan is mounting a work environment review for physicians in Regina following allegations of racism, misconduct, and a lack of professionalism.

"There's been some issues identified over the last couple of years in terms of allegations of misconduct between physicians in the City of Regina," Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill told reporters Monday.

"Certainly, there's been some allegations of racism, as one example."

Two medical professionals have been contracted to lead an independent external review of the work environment in Regina’s hospitals.

"I should be clear — it's not an investigation of specific physicians. This is a review of the entire physician community and culture within the City of Regina," Cockrill added.

"Understanding what the current state is and understanding how we make it better."

One of the consultants is a physician from Ontario while the other is from Nova Scotia. Together, the province says, they tout decades of experience working in a variety of hospital settings.

The independent review will see the consultants visit Regina in early 2025 to conduct interviews with local medical staff.

After assessing the situation, they’re expected to identify root causes and provide recommendations to the ministry and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA).

Cockrill was unable to say how many complaints were received prior to the review being organized — only saying that some have been “longstanding issues.”

November of 2023 saw 11 physicians at Regina General Hospital go public with complaints of intimidation, alleging they were the targets of “racist, and discriminatory leadership.”

That group of physicians filed a complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

When asked why the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan is not currently involved in the process — Cockrill said the college usually handles individual cases.

"Certainly, we're open to working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons with their suggestions as the regulatory body," he said.

"But I think this is important enough that the Ministry of Health would like to move forward."

The opposition NDP agreed that a review must take place.

"We need to see swift action when complaints like this are taking place. We need a thorough investigation into what has taken place there," MLA Vicki Mowatt told reporters. "We know that these issues can also impact recruitment and retention of other healthcare workers."

"This is not what we want to be known for."

The review is expected to conclude by the spring of 2025.