NDP pledges to jump-start cardiac care at St. B

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This article was published 13/09/2023 (752 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew vowed to add more cardiac health-care specialists and staff to St. Boniface Hospital as part of a promise to create a new “centre of excellence.”

If elected Oct. 3, an NDP government would devote $5 million annually to fund new positions within the Winnipeg hospital’s cardiac health program (known as Cardiac Sciences Manitoba), including $500,000 to support a research chair position.

“Here at St. Boniface, we have the remnants of a very strong program that is still delivering excellent care to people here in Manitoba, but we need to invest more,” Kinew said at a campaign announcement outside the hospital.

“If we want more Manitobans to help us deal with the staffing crisis by joining the front lines in our health-care system, we have to build centres of excellence that will act as magnets, that will draw people into the health-care system.”

Kinew said the NDP plan for cardiac services would improve surgical access and wait times, while focusing on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment, as well as recovery from heart disease. Research and data analysis would be a significant part of the centre, which would include a focus on women’s heart health, he added.

Kinew alleged the program has been dismantled over the past five years through funding cuts and staffing vacancies, threatening its reputation as a leading centre for cardiac care.

The NDP cited an informal program review completed by University of British Columbia head of cardiology Dr. Andrew Krahn in June 2022, at the request of medical lead Dr. Ross Feldman. In the review, which was released by the NDP, Krahn concluded the current budgetary process and governance decisions signals a “plan to dismantle” the cardiac sciences program.

Krahn wrote the program has the opportunity to “reinvent itself based on a platform of clinical excellence,” and a provincial program would ideally include the entire patient journey from prevention to rehabilitation and palliation.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Progressive Conservatives did not address the allegations. Instead, Shannon Martin (MLA for McPhillips, but not seeking re-election) said the announcement speaks to “the inexperience” of the NDP.

“We already have a world-class cardiac sciences centre at St. Boniface Hospital, serving over 50,000 patients every year from Manitoba, Nunavut and northwestern Ontario,” Martin said.

St. Boniface is also home to the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences.

“Researchers in this facility are collaborating with colleagues on the global stage,” Martin said. “While the NDP play political games, the PCs are focused on healing health care with our clinically-backed plans to put us on the road to recovery.”

According to Kinew, the NDP plan would add five perfusionists to the hospital’s ranks, plus additional cardiac care specialists, clinical and research staff. The party described the proposed centre of excellence as a “hub connecting research and patient care,” and the research chair would be affiliated with the ICS.

St. Boniface Hospital perfusionist Bill Gibb endorsed the NDP plan, saying the cardiac sciences program has been “neglected and ignored.”

Perfusionists operate heart-lung bypass pumps required for open-heart surgery.

“It’s harder and harder to recruit and keep health-care professionals,” said Gibb, who has worked in the field for two decades.

“Even now, today, we have a vacancy in the perfusion department,” he added. “We’ve had it for a number of months — people just aren’t interested in moving here to fill this position. Instead, they’re going to other provinces, where they have the support to do their jobs well.”

The program has seen funding drop, positions cut and the culture of teamwork and collaboration evaporate, the perfusionist said.

“This isn’t just about throwing money at the problem,” Gibb said. “It’s about changing the culture of health care so we can do our jobs well and work together so we can give people quality health care.”

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Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals president Jason Linklater said the province’s profusion program has been “greatly impacted” by a lack of investment, while recruitment, retention and training are major challenges for the health system.

According to the union, a small group of 10 perfusionists work in the program and there is a 20 per cent vacancy rate for cardiology technologists.

“What we heard today is that staffing and human resources are going to be the No. 1 piece that gets looked at before anything else, and we know that we need people to deliver health care,” Linklater said. “Until we have that investment in Manitoba, you’re not going to see improvements.”

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority was unable to provide information on vacancy rates and funding changes within the cardiac sciences program Wednesday.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca