Home-care patients increase, health-care aides decrease, NDP charges

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This article was published 17/05/2017 (3095 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Southern Regional Health Authority has more people using home care since the Progressive Conservative government took office but far fewer staff say the NDP.

The NDP used freedom of information legislation to obtain the numbers, health critic Matt Wiebe told the legislature Wednesday.

“The number of health-care aides is declining,” he said.

There were 1,691 home-care patients in May 2016 and 1,734 a month ago, Wiebe said before pointing out there were 715 health-care aides employed a year ago compared with 674 in April.

As well, over the last five years an additional 642 seniors started receiving services in the region, he said.

At the same time, the Tories are now allowing private home-care services to operate, which are “leaching patients” by charging people for services they can no longer get from the public service, he said.

“It’s important to ensure people can be at home as long as possible. We want to provide people as many options as possible,” said Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen.

Wiebe charged, “This minister has cut millions of dollars from the regional health authorities. Protect the public system by investing in it.”

Increases aren’t as high as they were under the NDP, but spending is still going up, Goertzen told the legislature.

“The southern region does need more funding, that’s why they’re getting record funding,” he said. “The NDP think up is the new down.”

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca