REGINA — A pair of GE Pristina mammography machines have been added to Saskatchewan Health Authority breast screening centres in Regina and Saskatoon. The addition doubles current capacity at the centres, which in turn will shorten waitlists.
“We have dedicated screening sites in Saskatoon and Regina, where all they do is screening, and they used to have one machine each; now they’ll have two machines each,” said Richard Dagenais, Executive Director of Medical Imaging for the SHA. “Their capacity is doubling in terms of the equipment.”
The new machines were made possible through fundraising efforts by the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, totalling over $2 million.
“The actual purchase of the machines and the support to get them installed was all funded by the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency,” Dagenais said. “Once we have them in place, the Saskatchewan Health Authority will be responsible for staffing and operating them and paying for the ongoing running of the service.”
A large portion of those donated dollars were courtesy of one group in particular.
“We especially thank PTI Transformers Inc., whose incredible gift of $1 million made these two new digital mammography machines possible,” said Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan CEO Nora Yeates. “It is thanks to our generous donors that we can ensure this vital new equipment will be available for Saskatchewan women.”
Regional centres are also located in Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Yorkton, North Battleford, Prince Albert, and Lloydminster. In addition, BreastCheck mobile clinics take place across the province, further extending the reach of breast health services.
“They have mammogram machines, and they do screening exams, but they’re not dedicated to screening,” Dagenais explained of the regional centres. “They also do diagnostic mammography, which is a different kind of test where it’s used when a woman has a health concern or a finding that’s been identified through screening, and it’s a little bit different in how it’s reviewed than a screening exam.”
Another future change will be expanding the age of eligibility for screening, something that could save more lives through earlier detection.
“Previously, women between the ages of 50 and 74 were eligible to receive breast screening through the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency,” Dagenais said. “You don’t need a referral from a physician to get a screening exam; you just contact the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, and you can get a booking for it. Going forward, slowly, in stages, we’re moving to having all women between ages of 40 and 74 be eligible to have breast screening.”
How that will work is initially lowering the age to 47, then 45 and incrementally lowering over the coming months.
“Then next January, it’s going to be 42 to 50, and finally 40 to 50 by the summer of 2026. It’s two years, but it is quick. One of the reasons we’re doing it in steps is to make sure that we’re able to manage the incoming capacity. We want to make sure that as we expand it, we’re not creating long wait lists. But if you think about it, that’s expanding our capacity from 24 years or 25 years, from 50 to 74 to 35 years. So that’s a really significant increase that in terms of the number of women who are eligible for screening, that’s close to a 40 per cent increase across the province, so building this extra capacity for screening is going to be really important for us to be able to deliver breast screening care to all these additional women.”
