NDP leader unhappy after bat caught in Regina hospital NICU

With health-care staff already overworked, they shouldn’t be tasked with catching unwanted visitors on top of their normal duties.

That’s how Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck said she feels after seeing images of a bat that was captured by nurses in the Regina General Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.

Beck said the issue speaks to poor working conditions for hospital staff in Saskatchewan.

“(It’s) just a sense of feeling disrespected and disregarded,” Beck said.

Things healthcare workers shouldn't be dealing with in Regina hospitals: Bats.

Things healthcare workers should be benefitting from in Regina hospitals: Increased funding to improve staffing and patient care.#skpoli #cdnpoli #skhealth #sask #yqr #yxe pic.twitter.com/8elQZvrpPP

— Carla Beck (@CarlaBeckSK) February 7, 2023

She said nurses and health-care workers caring for vulnerable infants who require intensive care shouldn’t have to work as bat-catchers as well.

Beck said the hospital has had issues with bats in the past, but the latest incident contributes to the feeling that Saskatchewan’s health-care system is in a crisis.

“It’s just one more thing on the plate of those nurses that they simply should not have to be dealing with,” Beck said.

CKOM has reached out to the Saskatchewan Health Authority for comment, but has not yet received a response.

–With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick