Shape up or ship out: Kinew

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This article was published 07/09/2023 (774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba nurses can expect new and expanded incentives if the NDP wins the Oct. 3 election, Wab Kinew pledged Thursday, while warning health system leaders who cannot improve workplace morale will be replaced.

During a campaign announcement outside Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, the NDP leader committed to end mandated nurse overtime within four years; improve nurse-to-patient ratios; extend existing government incentives to nurse practitioners; and help licensed practical nurses pay to upgrade their education.

Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson attended the announcement to support the NDP plan; however, the union is not endorsing the party and is non-partisan, she said.

“We are going to change the culture of health care,” Kinew told reporters. “We’re going to have flexibility and support for those folks in scrubs who work on the front lines, and we’re going to set accountability into place for those senior bureaucrats who run the health-care system.

“We will tell them: we are expecting you to improve things for patients in Manitoba and to improve staff morale — and if you can’t do that, then we’re going to find people who can.”

The NDP proposal appears to build on the Tory government’s health human resources action plan, which was announced in November 2022, and includes a suite of incentives for nurses, doctors and other health-care workers. The PCs also promised to end mandated nurse OT, but haven’t given a timeline to reach that goal.

“It is so encouraging to have a party actually want to talk to front-line nurses and want to hear their issues and their solutions,” Jackson said of the NDP approach. “I couldn’t be happier with the fact that there’s going to be collaboration.”

Under the NDP, nurse practitioners would receive the retention incentives provided to registered nurses, Kinew said. A “fast track” for licensed practical nurses to become registered nurses by working with local post-secondary institutions would also be created.

The training component would cost around $1 million, Kinew said.

Additional incentives and programs to persuade nurses to return to the public payroll and get internationally educated nurses at the bedside are also in the works, Kinew said. The NDP would also partner with the MNU to achieve “appropriate” nurse-to-patient ratios.

“Many of the details that are going to target specific sectors of nurses within the public health-care system are details that we want to work together on with their representatives… and with those on the front lines.”

“It is so encouraging to have a party actually want to talk to front-line nurses and want to hear their issues and their solutions.”–Darlene Jackson, MNU

In a statement attributed to PC MLA Shannon Martin — who is not running for re-election — the Tories questioned the dependability of Kinew’s promises.

“We’re 26 days out from the election and he still can’t decide what he stands for,” Martin said. “His record is clear: he voted against funding more training seats for doctors and nurses. He voted against retention bonuses.”

Kinew said his proposal to fix the health-care staffing crisis differs from the Tories in its promise to reset the relationship with nurses.

“We’re going to send a clear message to the people the PCs have installed in the health-care bureaucracy that they need to do better,” Kinew said.

“They need to do better in terms of delivering better health care to you, the people of Manitoba, but they also need to a better job in leadership. They need to do a better job of motivating staff and improving staff morale,” the Fort Rouge candidate said.

He attributed the perceived shortcomings to “senior leadership” ignoring nurses and carrying out “marching orders” from elected officials.

“We’re going to send a clear message to the people the PCs have installed in the health-care bureaucracy that they need to do better.”–Wab Kinew

The NDP declined to elaborate on which roles would be included among the senior executives expected to fix workplace culture.

However, Kinew said he will take a targeted approach and identify areas where “the emotional intelligence” of the senior executives needs to be improved.

“We’ll be very fair, and this is not going to be directed at specific individuals, but rather we have a system problem in health-care leadership that needs to get improved, and we’re going to give people the opportunity to improve their performance, too.”

Dissolving the provincial health authority Shared Health would not be the NDP’s first priority and stability is key, Kinew said.

Previously, he promised to cut the bureaucracy at the organization that oversees the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said Kinew appeared to backtrack on his promise to shrink the administration at Shared Health.

“Manitoba needs stability — and it’s clear the NDP is not even offering stability on their promises and commitments,” the St. Boniface candidate said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca