The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Problems In Manitoba's Health Care It has been written before (in this column as well as others) that there will always be problems in Canada's health care systems. The main problem is money, or lack of it, as costs continuously escalate, and there simply isn't enough money in the province or the country to satisfy the demands of the system. The federal government is still predicting a surplus in the billions which the provinces hope will translate into more health care dollars for them. This is not new, but worth repeating that when people believe something is free there will be more demand, plus an aging population puts greater pressure on the system. In Manitoba, a late September report detailed a considerable increase in the administration costs of the Regional Health Authorities. In Winnipeg, costs since 1999 have jumped from $5.7 million to $16.7 million. In rural and northern areas costs have jumped from $13 million to $20 million with none of the money being used for those on the front line Ð doctors, nurses, health care workers. The W.H.R.A. has a staff of 244 with 95 earning more than $50,000 and 49 more than $80,000, or as one columnist calls it "a real fat city." As Tory leader Stuart Murray claims: "We have patients lining hospital hallways and our waiting lists grow longer, yet the Doer government continues to waste millions of dollars on increased administration costs." He demands an independent review of the health care administration in our province. The opposition also complained loudly about the health minister's elimination of the fast-track nursing program at the University of Manitoba which was set up to help eleviate the nursing shortage, estimated to be about 1,500 at present. Health critic Myrna Driedger pointed out that in January (before the election), Chomiak said the program would remain thus misleading the student nurses. They are also after the health minister for what they call the "Cram Sham Affair". The minister hired Dr. David Cram at a cost of $70k to prepare a report on rural doctor recruitment and retention Ð a 90 day assignment. The Tories claim that the NDP's office of rural and northern health is already being paid to do the same job, and in any case the office had been given an extra $100k in its budget. Rural development critic Merv Tweed asked what the extra $100,000 was for and demanded that Chomiak pay Dr. Cram out of his own pocket. Of course he won't, but Tweed's claim "there is no accountability in health care spending" has merit. A jucier bone for the opposition to chew on is the Pan-Am Clinic's Ð Worker's Compensation Board plans of the Doer government. Releasing a leaked internal document on October 3, the PCs revealed the report detailing the NDP's plans for expanding the Pan-Am Clinic using a lot of money from the Worker's Compensation Board. Readers will remember that the NDP bought Dr. Hildahl's private clinic for a few million, then hired the former owners as managers. Apparently plans are now to expand the facility, purchase an M.R.I., with expansion costs just over $5 million. Of the amount, $1.6 million would be a grant from W.C.B. At present the private Maples Surgical Clinic has been the facility for most W.C.B. surgeries, causing a decline in those at Pan-Am from 364 in 2000 to 120 this year. The costs are from $400-600 each but are projected to be $1,200 at Pan-Am. The plan is to transfer 85% of the surgeries there plus 700 M.R.I'S from other hospitals. The Tories are crying fowl. Why? For one reason, none of the W.C.B. money is government money, as the funding is raised by assessing business the costs. The amounts paid depend on the risks of injuries and will vary from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands per year in payment. What is supposed to happen is that with fewer claims, costs drop. The NDP raid on the W.C.B. treasury will increase the costs to businesses which will be 14% higher next year than in 1999 according to opposition leader Murray How can the government force W.C.B. to give up $1.6 million dollars plus double the costs of surgeries to the Pan-Am Clinic? It's easy, as all W.C.B. board members are appointed by the government, and of course they will do as they are told. One other problem with the plan is that waiting lists for M.R.I.'s and surgical procedures at Pan-Am will increase, as W.C.B. claimants will be able to jump the queue, bumping regular patients down the lists. As the report states "this project may create operational and management issues that could impact patient care". Good bureaucratic talk for longer waits and poorer service. Opposition leader Murray is blunt in his criticism of Doer's plan, claiming that now the Manitoba Hydro tap has run dry the Premier is looking to W.C.B. as a new source of revenue. "First the Premier raided the rainy day fund and Manitoba Hydro to pay for his overspending and now he's trying to use W.C.B. as a revenue source," he said. Murray sees little rationale in W.C.B. paying for health infrastructure. He demands that the Premier reverse this proposal as he did in the wrong-headed idea to have M.P.I.C. pay for university buildings. Remember that juicy little issue which caused quite an uproar two years ago? Why is this happening? The main reason is that there simply isn't enough provincial money to pay all the health care costs. One other regrettable aspect of this proposal is that it could force the successful Maples Clinic to close its doors, which would bring no tears to the eyes of the NDP government. They remain adamantly opposed to private medical care even when it will cost a lot more to take this position.
