NDP vows financial incentives for new neighbourhood clinics

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This article was published 06/09/2023 (774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Neighbourhood medical clinics, staffed by off-duty ER physicians, are part of the NDP plan to take pressure off Manitoba’s overburdened emergency departments.

The party says it will spend about $2 million annually to provide financial incentives for teams of doctors to own and operate five such neighbourhood injury and illness clinics across two cities.

The clinics would provide online bookings for same-day care; “You can be back in your car within 15 minutes,” NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Wednesday.

The party is seeking to open four such clinics in Winnipeg and one in Brandon, to be phased in over four years in government, if the NDP is elected Oct. 3.

Kinew made the announcement near the Minor Illness & Injury Clinic on Corydon Avenue in the River Heights electoral district. Kinew said the new clinics would serve a different purpose than current facilities in Manitoba.

“It’s meeting an existing need in a new way,” he said.

Asked how the NDP would ensure the facilities are properly staffed in the long term, Kinew said minor injury and illness clinics are a “win-win” because working in this kind of setting is rewarding for physicians and nurses and provides more work-life balance, combined with the financial incentive the party plans to offer to physicians.

“It’s a win in terms of recruiting and retaining emergency room doctors here in Manitoba, but it delivers care to you in a convenient way.”

The Progressive Conservative party criticized the announcement in a statement: “Wab Kinew’s phony promises to build eight new medical facilities (including the proposed reopening of three Winnipeg ERs) in a global staff shortage shows his lack of experience.”

The outdoor news conference was briefly interrupted by a motorist shouting out his driver’s-side window at Kinew, asking what the NDP leader would do differently compared to Tory Premier Heather Stefanson.

Kinew responded he would “fix health care” and lower the cost of living.

“I’m not an NDP guy, but you’re making me change,” the unidentified man shouted back.

Kinew thanked him, and said he’d follow through on the commitments.

“I hope so, because if not, you won’t get my vote next time,” the man replied as he drove away.

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Also Wednesday, the NDP criticized the Tory government over heath-care job vacancies, providing documents that show one in five nursing positions is unfilled.

There were a total of 1,588 vacant nursing positions in Shared Health and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, as of May, according to the documents obtained via an NDP freedom of information request.

The Association of Regulated Nurses of Manitoba called out a province-wide nurse vacancy rate of 21.4 per cent, as it released its own plan to “heal health care.”

The association’s two main recommendations include removing limits on scope of practice for nurse practitioners and registered psychiatric nurses, and consulting nurses on provincial health-care policies and decisions.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com

Katie May
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Katie May is a multimedia producer for the Free Press.

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