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Patient's death on northern bus raises concerns

Questions have been raised about the Northern Patient Transportation Program (NPTP) after the death of a man on a Winnipeg-bound bus. Abraham Donkey died Oct. 3 on the bus from Thompson to Winnipeg.
northern patient travel

Questions have been raised about the Northern Patient Transportation Program (NPTP) after the death of a man on a Winnipeg-bound bus.

Abraham Donkey died Oct. 3 on the bus from Thompson to Winnipeg. The 58-year-old man from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation was on his way to a doctor’s appointment at St. Boniface Hospital following heart surgery.

The NPTP provides subsidies for medical transport to residents of northern Manitoba who need to travel for medical purposes. The program is open to people living north of the 53rd parallel west of Lake Winnipeg or people north of the 51st parallel east of Lake Winnipeg.

Methods of travel include bus, car, train, air or air ambulance travel. Medical travellers can also receive subsidies to cover some costs for escorts, under specific circumstances.

All travel covered by the program, whether for patients or escorts, must be approved by a physician.

According to Donkey’s family, he was not approved for a flight to Winnipeg for his appointment and a request for an escort was also not approved.

During a recent visit to Flin Flon, Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew said the provincial NDP would call for an inquest into Donkey’s death.

“It’s a real tragedy. I spoke to his family this week a few times. They’re calling for an inquiry or an inquest, and we’re pushing for that too, especially at the provincial level,” Kinew said.

“The federal government has questions to answer, but at the provincial level, they should be answering questions around what happened with the Northern Patient Transport Program in this instance.”

Flin Flon MLA Tom Lindsey added that the NDP has asked the office of the chief medical examiner to start an inquest into Donkey’s death and to review northern patient travel practices.

Provincial health minister Cameron Friesen released a statement following Donkey’s death, expressing condolences to his family and announcing that the Ministry of Health, Seniors and Active Living would review Donkey’s case.

Last week, Lindsey claimed in legislature that a freedom of information request filed by the provincial NDP revealed documents showing around $1 million in cuts to patient transport, including the NPTP subsidy.

“From the freedom of information requests we’ve seen, there are cuts – $450,000 specifically for NPTP – but there were also previous cuts to the Northern Health Region budget.”

“Every year, we see more cuts. I guess in some sense, I feel sorry for (NHR CEO) Helga Bryant – they tell her, ‘Here’s all the money you’re getting. You figure out what you’re cutting.’”

At the federal level, Churchill-Keewatinook Aski MP Niki Ashton discussed Donkey’s death during question period in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed condolences to Donkey’s family and pledged an investigation into his death by the Department of Indigenous Services.

Kinew said Donkey was in a provincial health facility days before his death and, in his opinion, felt Donkey should have been been approved for air travel.

“If someone was sick enough to pass away on a bus, it seems like they probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place. There should have been LifeFlight or air transport or something. Maybe he should have just been kept in hospital,” said Kinew.

NHR CEO Helga Bryant answered questions about the program during the recent Northern Health Region annual general meeting on Oct. 30.

She said the NPTP was one of the region’s largest expenses in the past fiscal year.

“It’s always a topic of interest. No matter where I go, I find myself having a conversation about it. You can see there that our expenses went up,” said Bryant while presenting the NHR audited financial report.

“We know that, even though it is a subsidized program, transportation to health services is critical and we do not cap that program. We provide it as it is needed and look for creative ways of being able to have services in the community or access to those services in a more friendly way than travelling on a night bus to Winnipeg from northern Manitoba.”

Bryant said the NHR is charged with administering the program in northern Manitoba, but that the region cannot solve individual problems with NPTP policy, adding the program is overseen by Manitoba Health.

“It’s a policy that was developed by Manitoba Health in 1995. We know it’s dated and healthcare has changed since 1995. We administer the policy, but we don’t have any authority to change it at this point in time,” she said.

“Our responsibility as a region is to follow the policy as it’s written.”

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