The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses says the Regina General Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is operating over capacity, despite a recent addition of beds. NICU added three beds to its unit in September, increasing the unit’s total capacity from 25 to 28, thanks to funding from the Government of Saskatchewan and Hospitals of Regina Foundation. The expansion represented $2 million of the $8.32 million earmarked for enhancing pediatric and neonatal care in the 2026-27 budget; funding more than 17 full-time equivalent positions required to staff the three new beds. However, SUN says the unit was already providing care for 28 babies on a regular basis, even before the expansion, and continue to operate over capacity. “We’ve been operating for that years,” SUN president Bryce Boynton told CTV News Monday. “And even this weekend, they hit 34 beds; which is six over the new capacity.” In a letter obtained by CTV News, one nurse outlined concerns about the unit’s current condition. “I am extremely concerned about the current state of critical overcapacity in the Regina NICU, the moral distress with staff and ability to maintain this pace without something awful happening,” the letter read. “Nurse, support staff resources, physician coverage and NCA/NNP coverage have not meaningfully increased to support this expansion. We were already routinely operating at 26–27 babies before the additional beds were added, and now we are seeing census numbers of 31–33 babies in a 28-bed unit.” The letter says the unit requires up to 23 nurses to be able to care for that many babies, but they did it with 18. “We are caring for increasingly premature, ventilated and medically complex infants who have longer admissions and require significantly more nursing time and expertise,” the nurse wrote. “Staff are routinely taking on larger assignments, while our most experienced nurses are simultaneously expected to carry these workloads and orient and mentor new staff. We simply do not have the capacity to do both safely and effectively.” Staff also say the problem is not isolated to Regina as Saskatoon hospitals have been experiencing similar capacity issues for months. “Our staff are working extraordinarily hard to protect these babies, often sacrificing their own breaks, time and well-being to keep the unit functioning,” they added. “However, this is not sustainable, and we cannot continue relying on the dedication and self-sacrifice of nurses to compensate for inadequate staffing.” In order to ensure all patients receive care, SUN says nurses have pivoted to moving babies into the hallway. As a result, many nurses have been left without adequate space. “They’re still doing their best to accommodate as many as they can and above and beyond what is expected,” explained Boynton. “The unit is not built for this many beds, so they’ve found ways to position beds and hallways in different areas within the unit that are not normally meant for beds.” This also has put families in a bind. “Sometimes this means [nurses] don’t have the resources or tools they need available at the bedside. And sometimes that means mothers, new moms, don’t have curtains available to them so they can breastfeed in privacy, and they can have the dignity they deserve,” Boynton added. Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill says NICUs across the province have seen an influx in patients of late. “We’ve had a busy couple of weeks in our three NICUs across the province,” he told reporters Monday. “The staff in all three of those are doing incredible work to ensure we are serving our smallest patients in the province best and as close to home as possible.” Cockrill also admitted the recently announced expansion is not enough – nor will it be the end of further investments down the road. “There’s no finish line when it comes to health care,” the minister said. “We need to continue making investments in pediatric care, and especially in NICU care.” “If you’re a young mother, or a young father trying to support your spouse, going into have a child, you want to know that capacity is there for you,” Cockrill added. The ministry hopes to continue bringing expansions forward through future budget cycles, including in the next provincial budget. However, even more important to Boynton is retaining the nurses in the unit. “If we’re operating at 34 beds, we should have enough nurses to operate at 34 beds,” he said. “We shouldn’t be asking people to operate at 28 [beds] and just stretch if need be.” “It’s unfair to the people of Saskatchewan and to the health-care workers when we’re seeing these grand announcements that don’t have any real evidence to back it up and no real follow-through on these actions.”
