Regina Breast Health Centre marks one year at Regina Center Crossing

The Regina Breast Health Centre has been in operation for one year. (Damian Smith / CTV News)

One year after the Regina Breast Health Centre became operational, the province is touting the facility’s success.

According to the Ministry of Health, this past year has seen patients receive “faster, more seamless care.”

The centre received a total of 1,780 referrals, in need of advanced diagnostics and treatment services.

“The Regina Breast Health Centre reflects our commitment to putting patients first by providing more timely access to care closer to home,” Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said in a release. “Having specialists, diagnostics and support together in one place, is helping patients feel supported and informed at every stage.”

For patient Tricia Goffin, she said the facility was perfect for a great scenario at an unfortunate time in her life. In November 2024, she was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes.

“With everything being in this centre at one place, I was able to walk across the hallway, have an unplanned mammogram,” she recalls, right after a clip was unable to be found. “The clip was located. The imaging was immediately available to everyone who needed to see it, and the procedure went according to plan.”

At 53-years-old, she had chemotherapy, targeted immune therapy, hormone therapy and surgery, including 21 lymph nodes removed.

She was one of the first patients in the centre.

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“When I walked through the doors of this centre, I immediately felt care and support from every single person I interacted with that day,” she said, recalling her first day.

The centre expanded services to include lymphedema care, which can provide patient support for those who experience swelling and other physical effects. Much of this service was provided at the Pasqua Hospital before. Goffin notes that the setting of life altering situations can play a factor in treatment.

“Not being a medical professional, the hospital is a scary place,” she said. “It can be overwhelming going to the hospital for treatment and I know sometimes we have to go to the hospital, but being able to come to a place that has more of a sense of community and connection is really something that’s important and I think it plays a role in our recovery.”

As a part of the project, the Government of Saskatchewan invested $8.5 million to open the centre, with $6.5 million in renovations and $2 million in operational costs.