Every afternoon, nine-year-old Brexlee returns from school, her glucose meter flashing low numbers. Her mother, Jess McBride monitors the data remotely and immediately tells her to grab a snack. Brexlee’s life revolves around the constant vigilance that type 1 diabetes demands: checking blood sugar, calculating insulin doses, and reacting to sudden swings that can be life-threatening.
“From what the doctors have told me, they can go unconscious. They can seize. They can end up in a coma.” Jess explains, describing the worst-case scenarios for a child whose sugar drops too far. Equally dangerous are prolonged highs, which over time trigger complications such as vision loss or kidney damage. The delicate balance requires a specialized team, and for the past year the family has relied on the Regina Pediatric Diabetes Program for bi-weekly appointments and emergency guidance.
Letter announcing service reductions and families’ reaction
Last week, Jess received a formal notice from the Saskatchewan Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Clinic. The letter declared that the Regina unit could no longer provide local pediatric diabetes care and that affected children would be redirected to the Saskatoon Pediatric Diabetes Clinic. “It’s terrifying. I rely on the diabetes team in Regina at least once every two weeks.” Jess said, adding that the news “hit her like a truck.”
The potential shift means an extra hour and a half each way for every appointment, plus added costs for fuel, meals, time off work, and possibly overnight stays. For families in southern Saskatchewan, especially those living in smaller centres like Wolesley the prospect of navigating winter highways to Saskatoon raises serious safety concerns. “For the parents that can’t afford that, what do you do?” Jess asked, echoing the anxiety of dozens of other households.
Provincial response and minister’s reassurance
Within days, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) issued a statement calling the letter “inaccurate” and pledging to keep a portion of services in Regina. The authority clarified that only some patients would need to travel, while others would continue to be seen by local pediatric specialists. “The letter contained incomplete information regarding plans for patient care, and we apologize for any confusion this may have caused,” the SHA said.
Health minister’s promise
At a press conference unveiling an expansion of the Regina General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill addressed the controversy. He admitted personal disappointment with the tone of the notice and reassured families: “We are going to work with our teams here, work with the Saskatchewan Health Authority to make sure that we can have those services available right here to those families in Southern Saskatchawan.” He emphasized that the service would not disappear permanently, but acknowledged the disruption for the roughly 150 families cited in the letter.
Logistical and emotional impact on families
Beyond the practical challenges, the emotional toll is evident. Jess recalls the closure of the Wolesley hospital in 2020, which never fully reopened and now only offers limited daytime emergency care. “What are we doing for staffing in Saskatoon? Who’s picking up for these 150 families? Do Saskatoon families get pushed aside now that we’re being seen regularly?” she asked, reflecting a fear that resources in the larger city could become overstretched.
Other parents, like Cailin Hergott whose twin daughters already travel to Saskatoon for care, acknowledge the SHA’s resource constraints. “Adding another 150 families. I don’t know if they have the capacity right now to take on all of that extra or not,” she said, while hoping the Regina program will reopen soon. Recent provincial legislation expanding Nurse Practitioners’ scope to treat chronic conditions such as diabetes may partially fill the gap, but Jess stresses that “you can’t make up for the loss of a dedicated specialized team.”
For Brexlee, the message is one of resilience: “You’re doing good and keep going. Don’t let it take over.” Her determination mirrors the broader community’s hope that the specialized diabetes team will return to Regina, restoring the local safety net that families have come to depend on.
