Manitoba government’s promise to boost health care being questioned

WINNIPEG — Two health-care groups said Tuesday Manitoba’s health-care system is facing more strain, even as the government has promised to improve front-line care.

Doctors Manitoba, which represents physicians across the province, said emergency room closures over the holiday season are set to rise slightly from December of last year due to staffing challenges.

Only one-quarter of emergency rooms in rural and northern areas will be reliably open around-the-clock this month. Two dozen are set to open for limited hours or have frequent closures, and 29 health centre emergency rooms are scheduled to be closed.

The group has set up a web page with links to scheduled emergency room hours this month and tips on planning ahead.

“I would advocate for patients who are planning on travelling, particularly if it’s an area that they’re not familiar with, to peruse the website (and) see where the nearest emergency room is,” president-elect Dr. Nichelle Desilets said.

“And then, maybe even also make note of the second-closest facility because of those unpredictable closures that (can occur).”

The Manitoba Nurses Union, meanwhile, said its members have been seeing constraints on staffing. Some shifts are not being filled when someone calls in sick and overtime shifts are being curtailed, union president Darlene Jackson said.

“There’s been a memo sent out from the employer saying that they’re no longer allowing nurses to sort of say, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll pick up that shift Saturday on overtime,'” Jackson said.

The NDP government, which made improving health care its top promise in last year’s election campaign, said it directed regional health authorities months ago to cut administrative costs by eight per cent and redirect the money to front-line care.

“I could not have been more clear that we need to ensure that there are no clinical impacts, that the front lines will be not only protected but enhanced by these efforts,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said.

If that directive is not being followed, the government will move quickly to address the situation, Asagwara added.

Jackson said administrative costs were already cut by the former Progressive Conservative government.

“I’m not sure how much more there is to cut at the bureaucracy level in some of our regions,” Jackson said.

As for emergency room closures, Asagwara pointed to the recent hiring of hundreds of health-care professionals and the reopening earlier this year of the emergency department in Carberry, 170 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

“It is not something that you can fix overnight. It’s going to take us time,” Asagwara said, blaming the former Tory government for long wait times and staffing shortages.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press