The province’s top elected official headed north to discuss health care, economic growth and new infrastructure this week.
Premier Brian Pallister made his second visit to Flin Flon in the past seven months, coming north along with a pair of provincial cabinet ministers and an entourage of government officials and staff for the official opening announcement of the new emergency department at Flin Flon General Hospital March 18.
Joining Pallister on the northern trip were Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living Cameron Friesen and Indigenous Affairs Minister Eileen Clarke.
“We’re focused not just on spending more, but more importantly, getting better results from the money we invest. This is going to be a key part of that for this part of northern Manitoba,” said Pallister in a media scrum following the initial press conference at the hospital.
During the premier’s last visit to Flin Flon, he toured the then-under construction department and the present ER.
“I had a chance a few months ago to tour the facility - I say ‘tour’, it was more like bumper cars. Patients were waiting, the observation rooms were packed, EMS services were bringing in people and there wasn’t room to turn around in there. That’s the facility that we had in Flin Flon for a long, long time. You’ve been in it when it was just like that,” he said.
The Flin Flon emergency department announcement came during a one-day swing through the north, including an announcement in Thompson hours before the ceremony in Flin Flon.
In Thompson, the provincial government announced an expansion in dialysis services, increasing patient accommodation by 62 spots, including six extra spots in Thompson.
No additional dialysis services in Flin Flon were announced.
“We have invested millions of dollars to create additional renal capacity across the province of Manitoba, including the city of Thompson to serve that part of the north,” said Friesen.
When asked how the new emergency department may impact the ongoing suspension of some obstetric and birth services at Flin Flon General Hospital, Friesen made no firm commitments but mentioned the external review that suggested that the NHR suspend those services last year.
“The determination was, at this point in time, you needed to postpone these services to be able to deliver them in a safe way, in a safe place,” he said.
“We know this is not an ideal circumstance, but it was an expert decision, designed to keep people safe. I would say we’ve taken the advice of those experts.”
Pallister voiced support for measures to improve northern Manitoba’s economic growth, discussing growth in the tourism sector for the region while carefully avoiding any mention of the pending shutdown of Hudbay operations in Flin Flon and other mine changes.
“We use the line that the Golden Boy looks north for a reason - the future and potential of our province lies in the north and I think we’ve demonstrated our commitment to fulfill that goal of giving Manitoba a more developed and advanced north,” he said.
“We’ve got more work to do, a lot of work for sure, but I think getting better jobs in northern Manitoba, promoting tourism - there’s been record numbers, in spite of the rail discombobulation that we’ve experienced here over the last year. We’re seeing real positive progress in that respect.”
The future of obstetrics care, as well as other disciplines of medical care in the north, will likely depend on the outcome of the provincial clinical and protective services plan, currently in development.
Friesen said the project hinges on each health region and group discussing which services should be offered where with the province, with aims on improving services province-wide.
“Everyone was planning on their own, in silos. This new path ahead talks about working with better collaboration and cooperation. That will allow us to be far more objective about how to build a system that is better, gets better results, gets wait times lower and makes the best possible investment that we can,” he said.
“We’re excited to be receiving that advice back from professionals and that will show us how to go forward. It will be the plan that we’ll use to create a system that we truly believe will be better and get better health care sooner for all Manitobans.”
