All three northern Manitoba MLAs and the leader of Manitoba’s opposition have argued for an end to health budget cuts for northern communities.
The northern bloc of the Manitoba NDP - Flin Flon MLA Tom Lindsey, The Pas MLA Amanda Lathlin and Keewatinook MLA Ian Bushie - spoke about concerns brought to them regarding northern health care in a Jan. 20 press conference. The three northern MLAs were joined by NDP party leader Wab Kinew.
One of the key points brought up by the speakers was the then-indefinite closure of the Leaf Rapids Health Centre, which closed for a period last month, first on a temporary basis and then indefinitely. The centre reopened Jan. 24, more than a month after the closure was first announced, but the Northern Health Region (NHR) described the staffing situation at the centre as “precarious” in the reopening announcement. Other points brought up were a closure over the holiday season at the Gillam Hospital and suspension of some services in recent years at northern facilities, including in Flin Flon.
“We’re sharing a very clear message - that northern health care is in crisis,” said Kinew.
“What has been a longstanding source of frustration during the past few weeks and months has become an absolute crisis and there is no worse time than during this wave of the pandemic for the government to be closing health care facilities in northern Manitoba.”
Lindsey said that attempts to reach out to provincial health officials, as well as Premier Heather Stefanson, with concerns on northern care have fallen on deaf ears.
“I've reached out to the health minister and the premier to get them to respond, to see what the plan is, but they refuse to respond to those requests. I have found their offices and spoken to assistants who've been left to handle what the ministers and the premier have left them, but there are no solutions have been put forward,” said Lindsey.
Service changes for other northern centres were also on the agenda. Lathlin said that some northern expectant mothers have had to give birth in Winnipeg due to long-standing staff shortages in The Pas, while Lindsey mentioned service changes in Flin Flon.
“This government really needs to invest, end these nursing shortages and really focus on recruitment and retention, especially retention,” said Lathlin.
“In Flin Flon, we’ve seen a dramatic reduction in health services that are available. Our hospital used to be fully staffed - operating room, birthing centre and all the rest,” said Lindsey.
“The NHR has been cut back so much by the provincial government that’s there’s almost nothing left there.”
Meanwhile, Lindsey also spoke about the province’s COVID-19 mitigation measures, namely its policy to supply KN95 masks at MLA’s offices and at Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries outlets. Lindsey said his Flin Flon office still hadn’t received masks - and with a riding covering hundreds of square kilometres, he said it would not be likely that many communities in the riding could get them even if they arrived.
“The minister came out and said that every MLA’s office was going to get a supply of KN95 masks - that clearly isn't true, because I know my office didn't get any from the provincial government,” Lindsey said.
“I've had to phone schools and daycares and tell them to go to the liquor store, because the Flin Flon liquor store did finally get a supply of masks. How wrong is that? And what about communities in the north that don’t have liquor stores? How are they supposed to get masks?”
Bushie spoke about issues facing remote and Indigenous northern communities, with
“First Nations people here in Manitoba are disproportionately high, in comparison, in hospitalizations due to COVID-19. It’s something that’s unacceptable,” he said.
“Now, with the omicron variant, it’s something that needs to be addressed. We have communities that are totally being ignored by the provincial government because they’re trying to pawn that off as a federal responsibility.”
Lindsey added that ongoing issues with provincial health funding would continue to harm northern health care unless they are addressed.
“This government is not just ignoring what is needed in the north, but they’re actively still cutting what’s needed in the north. All our communities are in trouble when it comes to health care and we’re being denied basic health care services that people in the south take for granted,” he said.
