The province says Regina’s new Urgent Care Centre (UCC) is now 85 per cent complete with plans to be fully operational still aimed at summer 2024.

The UCC will be a more suitable option to an alternative emergency department for illnesses, injuries or mental health issues that are considered not life-threatening but require urgent attention.

“Facilities like this urgent care facility will alleviate the pressures in our emergency rooms, to ensure Saskatchewan residents are able to receive the care they need,” Premier Scott Moe explained.

The centre will be open 24 hours a day and seven days per week.

According to the province, the structure, roofing, interior framing, electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and drywall work have all been finished with “final touches” now being done inside the building.

“Daily preventative measures have been implemented to keep the job site dust-free, which is a requirement of the Infection Prevention and Control measures,” a provincial news release said.

Following the completion of construction, the province says that Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) teams will be working to install equipment, train medical teams in the new environment, verify patient flow plans and prepare to welcome patients.

“A key goal of this facility is really meant to make health care accessible … Our focus being treating people in the right place, at the right time, with the right providers,” said SHA CEO Andrew Will.

Located at 1320 Albert St., north of downtown, the UCC will be staffed with more than 100 health-care professionals including psychiatric nurses and social workers who the province says will be available 24 hours per day.

The UCC will also be located next door to an EMS centre that will be able to transport patients to hospital if need be.

“We need to morph and change how we are delivering healthcare in Canada,” Moe added.

“This investment is precisely that.”