Saskatchewan signs first contracts with nurse practitioners to expand primary care

Advertisement

Advertise with us

REGINA - Saskatchewan's government has signed its first contracts with nurse practitioners to expand primary care.

Read this article for free:


By clicking the button above, an account will be created and you will begin to receive some of our recommended newsletters. You may opt out of any newsletter by visiting your Email and Communication Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of any email.

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/11/2025 (340 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA – Saskatchewan’s government has signed its first contracts with nurse practitioners to expand primary care.

Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill says the 19 new contracts will help patients get medical care sooner and closer to their homes.

Nurse practitioners can perform many tasks similar to family doctors, such as diagnosing and treating illnesses, prescribing medications and providing referrals to specialists.

Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill speaks during a media scrum after the throne speech in Regina, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill speaks during a media scrum after the throne speech in Regina, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

Cockrill says each contract costs the province at least $233,000, and they will work in cities and towns.

He says the province plans to provide more contracts in the future, with 25 to be signed in the next two months.

Hanna Latina, a nurse practitioner who signed a deal with the province, says it allows her to offer thorough care without having to charge patients. 

The clinic in Regina where Latina works, NPower+ Health, was previously billing fees for care because it had no contract with the province. 

“It’s truly a meaningful step forward because it strengthens the access to high quality, consistent care,” she said at a news conference Monday. “All this leads to better, more holistic and healthier outcomes for our patients.”

Toni Tinio, also a nurse practitioner at the clinic, said it’s now accepting more patients. 

“We are implementing strategies in such a way that we are able to … be available for patients who need care within the next 24 or 48 hours,” he said.

Cockrill said the province wants everyone to have a primary health provider by 2028.

“The patients that I have spoken with that see a nurse practitioner … say they are very well served and receive services,” he said.

“The more we can strengthen the primary care options available to patients around the province, that’s what is going to lessen the load on the acute care settings, the emergency rooms.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2025.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

MPI gambles with low rate request

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

MPI gambles with low rate request

Editorial 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:16 AM CDT

It sounds a bit like a gamble from a player in an industry that is almost pathologically averse to gambling.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 10:16 AM CDT

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

Police HQ report ‘outrageous’: Kinew

Joyanne Pursaga 6 minute read Preview

Police HQ report ‘outrageous’: Kinew

Joyanne Pursaga 6 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026

Premier Wab Kinew says public inquiry findings that taxpayers were overcharged more than $40 million for the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project and two city leaders broke the public trust are “outrageous.”

Inquiry commissioner Garth Smorang’s report, which was released Monday, concluded former mayor Sam Katz “violated the public trust” and council code of conduct, while the city’s former chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl suffered from a “complete lack of a moral compass.”

Smorang also found the city was overcharged $43.3 million for the project, with $42 million of that going to key contractor Caspian Projects.

“It’s outrageous that people who were elected betrayed the public here in the city. It’s outrageous that there were people in business who ripped you off, ripped me off — I was paying property taxes in Winnipeg at the time — and ripped all of us off to the tune of $43.3 million. That’s crazy,” said Kinew.

Read
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026

‘Big win’ kept ag tariffs off table: trade rep

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Preview

‘Big win’ kept ag tariffs off table: trade rep

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read 7:16 PM CDT

Retaliatory tariffs on American agriculture was a possibility earlier this year, according to Manitoba’s U.S. trade representative.

Richard Madan says he banded together with various groups — Manitoba Pork, Keystone Agricultural Producers, cattle representatives — to rally against the move.

“We mobilized quickly,” Madan said during a trip to Winnipeg on Thursday.

Madan said he’d heard tariffs on agriculture were “on the table” upon speaking to Janice Charette, Canada’s chief trade negotiator to the U.S., in Washington.

Read
7:16 PM CDT

Frustration on menu as construction drags on

Kelly-Anne Riess 4 minute read Preview

Frustration on menu as construction drags on

Kelly-Anne Riess 4 minute read 6:41 PM CDT

Nearly four months of construction outside the front door of a longtime Portage Avenue restaurant has driven away customers and left its owner struggling to cover operating expenses.

Read
6:41 PM CDT

Klein, Gillingham trade jabs over megaproject

Malak Abas 6 minute read Preview

Klein, Gillingham trade jabs over megaproject

Malak Abas 6 minute read Yesterday at 9:36 PM CDT

Two of Winnipeg’s mayoral candidates wasted no time trading barbs over who bears responsibility for the skyrocketing cost of overhauling the North End sewage treatment plant, during a televised debate Wednesday.

Scott Gillingham and Kevin Klein pointed the finger at each other for the rising cost of the massive project, which had a cost estimate of $795 million in 2015 and had ballooned to $3.2 billion as of the latest estimate.

“We need to be able to understand how that amount tripled in that short a time,” Klein said at the event held at CBC’s downtown Winnipeg headquarters. He pointed out the first estimate was given when Gillingham was chairman of the city’s finance committee. He questioned what the incumbent did to garner funding for the project.

Gillingham shot back by noting Klein was Manitoba’s environment minister in 2023. He accused his opponent of failing to make a dent on the cost.

Read
Yesterday at 9:36 PM CDT