NDP rail on Manitoba deal with B.C. surgery hub

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This article was published 23/05/2023 (926 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Progressive Conservative government was called out in question period Tuesday for signing a deal with a B.C. surgical centre that spent 14 years in court fighting the underpinnings of medicare and Canada’s public health-care system.

Last week, it was reported the province had quietly updated its website offering to send Manitobans to Clearpoint Don Mills Surgical Unit in Toronto and the Cambie Surgical Centre in Vancouver to get foot, ankle and shoulder surgeries at no charge.

Manitoba’s diagnostic and surgical recovery task force did not widely publicize the cost-free service patients can voluntarily sign up to receive.

Critics charged the news wasn’t trumpeted because the Vancouver clinic has been involved in a 14-year court battle to allow patients to pay for quicker access to surgery.

“For a decade, the CEO of Cambie Surgical Centre has been leading the charge against our public health-care system,” NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said in the house Tuesday.

Dr. Brian Day challenged the British Columbia Medicare Protection Act in court, arguing wait times in the publicly funded system amounted to a breach of a patients’ rights to life, liberty and security of person under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Repeatedly, he tried to argue in court that we should have an American-style, two-tier health system,” Asagwara said. “Despite his crusade against our health-care system, the premier thinks it’s a good idea to send him public taxpayer money.”

Day lost his court battle, but won some business from Manitoba with a deal to provide up to 200 surgeries to help relieve the province’s COVID-19 pandemic backlog.

“Can the premier or health minister explain why they’re giving taxpayer dollars to a company that’s trying to tear down our public health-care system?” Asagwara asked.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon didn’t answer the question, but responded by citing Free Press headlines from when the NDP took office under premier Gary Doer and failed to live up to election campaign promises. Doer was Manitoba premier from 1999 to 2009.

Gordon said that NDP government failed to end hallway medicine, add 100 new hospital beds or deal with growing nurse vacancies, as promised. “Manitobans couldn’t trust them then, and they certainly can’t trust them now.”

The Tories have held power since 2016.

The NDP health critic said the health minister’s response was embarrassing — for the PCs.

“This health minister is failing so badly at health care right now in 2023, that she’s quoting an article from 23 years ago instead of focusing on the fact that this premier (Heather Stefanson) is ignoring solutions being brought forward by doctors here in Manitoba,” said Asagwara.

Gordon said the NDP track record speaks for itself.

“Broken promises. No plan. No solutions,” the health minister told the house. “The NDP of yesterday is the same as the NDP of today.”

Gordon was not made available for an interview after question period.

When asked about the agreement with Cambie Surgical Centre, and why it wasn’t announced, the government issued a statement saying it is “investing in increasing procedures within the public health system, building long-term procedure capacity within the public health system, and procuring procedures both in and out of province to produce the best results and getting Manitobans the care they need faster.”

Regular updates on the procurement of procedures available in and out of province are made public on the Manitoba government website, it said.

The government said it is working directly with surgeons to ensure patients are aware of the option to receive care from an out-of-province provider.

The vast majority of procedures are completed in Manitoba — more than 26,500 through request for supply arrangements alone. The out-of-province procedures are a short-term measure to tackle wait lists while the government builds capacity in Manitoba, the province said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca