The official opposition is using physician vacancies in the Northern Health Region (NHR) to criticize the NDP government’s health care policy.
On Wednesday the Progressive Conservatives announced that data from a freedom of information request showed the NHR has 15 vacancies for doctors.
The PCs said the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority is short 30 doctors while the Prairie Mountain Health Region is short over 40 doctors.
“Manitobans need access to health care and if they have no doctors in communities, they have no access to health care,” health critic Myrna Driedger said in a press release. “The NDP has failed rural Manitobans. It doesn’t appear to have any idea how to address the problem so is choosing to ignore it.”
But the NDP is defending its record.
A provincial spokesperson told CBC that Manitoba Health's Family Doctor Finder has matched 23,000 people with a physician or nurse practitioner since it began as a pilot project in July 2013.
Health Minister Sharon Blady told CBC the numbers released by the PCs are “misleading” and that Manitoba is retaining more doctors now than in previous years.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons told CBC that Manitoba has seen a rise in the number of doctors in rural areas, from 546 in 2005 to 627 in 2014.
Charge in death
A 23-year-old man has been charged with manslaughter after the death of a woman in Thompson.
Thompson RCMP responded to a call of an injured woman at an apartment at about 2:40 am last Saturday, Jan. 31. They discovered a 20-year-old female dead.
Ronald Lee Clark Spence of Thompson was remanded into custody and is set to appear in Thompson provincial court on March 6.
The name of the woman is not being released. This was the first homicide in Thompson since
Dec. 30, 2012.
Free entry
Manitoba is offering free entry to all provincial parks for the month of February.
Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh made the announcement yesterday.
“We may not have had as much snow as we’re used to this winter, but there are still plenty of reasons to get out and enjoy everything our parks have to offer,” Mackintosh said. “We have groomed trails for snowmobiles, skijoring and cross-country skiing, as well as great places for hiking or snowshoeing.”
Trail grooming reports are updated every Thursday throughout the winter so people can plan their outdoor adventure. Maps of winter trails and updated reports can be found at www.manitoba
parks.com.
SnoPasses are still required for snowmobilers using groomed trails in provincial parks.
