Patient transport quality challenged in legislature

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This article was published 15/03/2023 (960 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Privatized air ambulance services and drawn-out contract negotiations for more than 6,000 health-care workers were blamed Wednesday for a recent patient transport that left a Brandon woman fearing for her life.

Opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the circumstances described by 79-year-old Eleanor Buechler — who was moved to Winnipeg from Brandon by air ambulance last month after suffering a heart attack — show the Tory government is failing to provide high-quality health care to Manitoba seniors.

“The idea that the life-saving intervention that somebody’s counting on is actually causing them greater concern shows us that we need to address something in our health-care system,” Kinew said.

Buechler told the Brandon Sun she was mistreated during the Feb. 3 transfer to St. Boniface Hospital from Brandon Regional Hospital.

The temperature felt like -31 C with the windchill that day, but Buechler only had the clothes she was rushed to hospital in: pyjama bottoms, housecoat, hospital gown and slip-on shoes without socks.

Buechler told the Sun, at the airport, she was asked to walk from the stretcher van to the airplane, rather than be offered a wheelchair. On board, she was given no additional coverings to help her stay warm. In Winnipeg, she was again made to walk in the frigid cold to a waiting stretcher van.

“I thought I was going to die on this trip. I didn’t expect to make it to Winnipeg,” Buechler said.

She said she also had to walk from the transport van and into St. B. “The ramp was full of snow and was so long, so I had to try the steps. I didn’t think I’d make it because my hands were so cold trying to grasp the metal railing.”

A spokesperson for Shared Health said it is reviewing the incident and patient relations has reached out to Buechler.

During question period Wednesday, Kinew called on the government to apologize and reverse course on privatization of medical aviation services. The province issued a request for proposal in May 2022, seeking providers to offer 24-hour, 365-days-a-year aircraft availability.

Deputy premier Cliff Cullen said the health and safety of seniors and all Manitobans is taken very seriously. He responded on behalf of Premier Heather Stefanson, who was at a funeral Wednesday afternoon.

Cullen said the RFP will ensure timely, safe, reliable and consistent medical aviation care for patients. The MLA for Spruce Woods also noted the concerns raised by Kinew involve ground transport services.

“Our goal is to make sure that Manitobans have the services that they expect and they deserve,” Cullen said. “That’s why we are making record investments in health care.”

He pointed to the nearly $8 billion budgeted to be spent on health care in the coming fiscal year, including $200 million for a human resources action plan to address labour shortages and issues with retention and recruitment.

While air ambulance privatization has led to poor patient outcomes, Kinew said ground transport services continue to suffer, alongside rural emergency departments, as long as workers with the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals do not have a contract.

The MAHCP, which has more than 6,200 members, including rural paramedics, has been without a collective agreement for five years. Bargaining between the union and Shared Health started more than a year ago.

The NDP said the province could address staffing concerns by accelerating negotiations with MAHCP and increasing wages. Kinew added he is open to exploring the idea of returning to a public air ambulance service.

Cullen said he expects collective bargaining between the two parties to conclude in the near future. New contracts, coupled with Tories’ proposed personal income tax cuts, will make Manitoba an attractive place for workers, he added.

However, MAHCP president Jason Linklater offered a different perspective Wednesday on progress being made at the bargaining table.

“We have concerns about the pace at which bargaining is progressing and, at this point, we are looking at all our options, which could include a strike vote in the near future.”

— with files from the Brandon Sun

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca