MS clinic to receive needed funding, staffing boost: doctor

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This article was published 18/06/2022 (1177 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Additional clinicians are expected to be hired to keep Manitoba’s multiple sclerosis clinic afloat, with a $284,000 funding boost from the province.

The provincial government hasn’t yet announced the new funding, which is expected to cover the cost of the equivalent of three new full-time positions for health professionals (including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and dietitians).

Dr. Dan Roberts, who oversees neurology services in Winnipeg, said he was recently informed his funding requests for the clinic were approved.

Last month, he took the unusual step of holding his own news conference “out of desperation” to warn the public the MS clinic at Health Sciences Centre was on the brink of closure.

At the time, Roberts said Shared Health had not acted upon his previous funding requests, adding the clinic would have to close within three months if nothing changed. The province’s neurology services were “on the verge of collapse,” he said.

Neither Shared Health nor Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon provided any details when asked Friday whether additional funding had been allocated to the clinic. Both said any official announcements will come later.

Meanwhile, three more neurologists and another nurse practitioner have been recruited, a Shared Health spokesman stated.

“I was actually very pleased yesterday with the MS Society, had a really good discussion with them and shared some of our news, some of it will be released in a later announcement, not today,” Gordon said, speaking Friday afternoon outside Deer Lodge Centre.

“But Shared Health continues… to actively recruit neurologists for epilepsy, as well as MS. I don’t want to pre-empt an announcement I’ll be making in a little bit, but neurologists have been hired and we look forward to ensuring that the clinic is fully staffed and providing the services to Manitobans that the need.”

In its statement, Shared Health acknowledged challenges in staffing the clinic and said it is still recruiting one more neurologist. Six have been recruited over the past year-and-a-half, and three others will start work later this year, including one who specializes in MS. Two nurse practitioner positions were created, and one was previously filled.

“An increase in the clinical stipend for MS physicians is also now in place, which will aid in recruitment and retention efforts. And hospital physicians have been recruited to support inpatient work in neurology and stroke care that will help to free up neurologists to focus on providing more specialized care,” the statement reads, in part.

Roberts said he’d previously asked for an increase in the stipend for neurologists who specialize in MS treatment, because he said they make less money than other neurologists due to the time it takes to see MS patients. Shared Health previously agreed to increase the stipend, he said.

The new funding for additional allied health professional jobs will be enough to keep the clinic open until February, Roberts estimated. “It’s going to be difficult, but I think we’re probably going to be able to keep the clinic on life support until we have more MS physicians.”

Currently, the clinic serves 2,800 patients. Shared Health said no appointments have been disrupted.

The wait time for an MS patient to see a physiotherapist is currently three years, and two years for an occupational therapist, Roberts said.

“The quality of care patients are going to receive is going to go up to proper standards of care,” thanks to the additional funding, Roberts said. “Right now, it isn’t.”

The added positions mean patients will likely be able to see those specialized therapists within a month, he added.

— with files from Danielle Da Silva

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca