Doctors, nurses welcome Manitoba’s health deal with Ottawa

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This article was published 24/02/2023 (927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Labour groups hope Manitoba’s new agreement in principle for $6.7 billion in federal funding for health care will ease pressure on staff and reduce wait times.

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos pledged Friday the cash — spread over 10 years — will improve access to family and mental health services, reduce surgical backlogs and support employees. Details will be ironed out during talks.

Premier Heather Stefanson said the recruitment of family doctors will be part of the discussion.

“That’s one of the areas of priority for the federal government,” she told reporters. “We recognize that there is a need for family doctors. We have been moving in that direction anyway so we’ll continue… to see what specifically that looks like moving forward with the federal government in terms of the details.”

Stefanson noted the funding is equivalent to about two per cent of Manitoba’s overall health budget.

“This is not going to have a significant impact in terms of the long-term financial viability of health care in Manitoba and across the country,” she said. “But, we recognize that this is a step in the right direction, so we’re accepting the funds from the federal government.”

The $6.7 billion includes $72 million through an immediate, one-time Canada Health Transfer top-up for urgent needs such as pediatric hospitals, emergency rooms and long wait times for surgeries, the federal government said.

Other goals include improving access to help for substance use and addictions, and simplifying the process for internationally educated health-care employees to begin working in Manitoba.

The next step is to negotiate a bilateral agreement based on an initial three-year action plan that will set out targets, timelines and priorities, the federal government said.

Stefanson’s government must show how it plans to spend the money and improve health care for Manitobans.

Friday’s agreement is based on parameters that Ottawa has set, with details on accountability measures still to be hammered out, she said.

The premier pointed out money will not flow to the province until after the federal Liberals release their budget.

Manitoba will account for the funding increase in its financial planning for the 2023-24 fiscal year, she said.

The provincial budget will be tabled March 7.

“You’ll see that 100 per cent of it is going to health care,” said Stefanson, who is chair of the Council of the Federation of premiers and territorial leaders, which had pressed Trudeau to increase Ottawa’s share of annual health funding.

Stefanson is in a tight spot as this fall’s election approaches; health care is a top concern for voters and her party’s record is on the line.

“The premier was Brian Pallister’s health minister when he cut health care, fired nurses and closed ERs,” NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said in a statement, after the agreement in principle was announced.

“Just like Pallister, ER wait times are still getting worse, nurses are burning out and home care isn’t there when seniors need it. Manitobans don’t trust the Stefanson PCs on health care.”

Manitoba is the sixth province to reach an agreement in principle, after the premiers on Feb. 13 accepted Ottawa’s proposal for $196 billion in health funding over 10 years. The deal only boosts Ottawa’s share of health funding to 24 per cent, which is a far cry from the 35 per cent premiers had asked for.

Groups that represent front-line workers in Manitoba welcomed Friday’s announcement and identified some of the items on their wish lists.

“We hope to see this funding help to address Manitoba’s serious physician shortage, which should translate into more Manitobans with access to a family doctor, shorter ER wait times, and catching up on the massive surgical and diagnostic backlogs,” said Dr. Candace Bradshaw, president of the advocacy group Doctors Manitoba.

Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals president Jason Linklater wants recruitment and retention of allied health professionals, who’ve been without a contract for five years, to be prioritized.

“We need these funds to provide much-needed investments in staffing Manitoba’s struggling public health-care system,” he said.

While she eagerly awaits details of the three-year plan, Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, said an implementation plan is needed immediately.

“Patients can no longer wait, nor can nurses and other health care professionals in our public health-care system,” she said.

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The Manitoba Health Coalition wants federal funding to come with strings attached to ensure every public dollar goes toward improving public care, not corporate profits, said provincial director Thomas Linner.

The organization’s mission is to protect the public system and fight privatization.

Linner said Manitoba’s public system has been “devastated” by government cuts and privatization.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.