WINNIPEG Manitoba s official opposition is calling on the government to increase nurses and other health-care staff in intensive care units throughout the province. This comes after the NDP said they received a report from Manitoba s health minister, which shows there is a 25 per cent vacancy rate of nurses in Manitoba s ICUs. For the past year and change, we have been living with public health restrictions that we were told were to buy us time to strengthen our health-care system. Now, even as we look ahead to a reopening, we see there are still many, many positions empty in the ICU, said Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew.
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The organization is calling for a three-pronged plan to address the backlog of 39,000 surgeries, 44,000 diagnostic tests and 32,000 other procedures they disclosed last month. This plan would set a target date for the backlog to be cleared, the province to provide proper resources which include the formation of a task force, and for more regular reporting.
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“These are patients, these are Manitobans that are waiting, some in pain some who are suffering,” said Dr. Kristjan Thompson, president of Doctors Manitoba. “These aren’t just numbers, these are people.”
Health and Seniors Living Minister Heather Stefanson said the province will address the concerns of letter from a nurse which details an overwhelmed ER at…
WINNIPEG Manitoba s official opposition is calling for public health officials to release COVID-19 modelling, saying it will help address pandemic fatigue, and public buy-in to health orders. On Tuesday, Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew and NDP Health Critic Uzoma Asagwara wrote a letter to Manitoba s chief public health officer, requesting a meeting with him to review COVID-19 modelling and release it publicly. We know that people are growing tired of restrictions, and it is important to remind folks and encourage folks and show folks the reasons why it is important to follow public health orders, said Asagwara. People will trust the decisions that are being made when they have the information in front of them that shows them why they are being made the way that they are.
It made the lack of additional funding for these facilities in Wednesday’s budget shocking.
For a document titled
Protecting Manitobans, Budget 2021, the province seems to have forgotten about the most vulnerable of our population.
This was an opportunity to cement the promise of the implementation of the 17 recommendations made by the report several of which called for more funding and more staffing.
To be fair, the budget does denote an increase of $9.3 million of funding to go to the increased operational costs for two facility expansions in Steinbach and Carman. But that eats up the lion’s share of the $10.1 million increase in funding to long-term care services.