Province shuts down diagnostic, surgical task force to invest in system capacity

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This article was published 17/11/2023 (693 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The NDP’s decision to pull the plug on the diagnostic and surgical recovery task force and direct its resources to delivering public health services was met with both praise and concern Friday.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced the province is winding down the team of health-care professionals and other experts assembled by the previous Progressive Conservative government two years ago in an attempt to reduce backlogs for many procedures at Manitoba facilities that grew significantly during the pandemic.

Asagwara’s announcement at the Grace Hospital received a positive reaction from some in the medical community, who said plans to establish a mobile MRI clinic in northern Manitoba and expand surgical slates at the Grace Hospital and spinal surgery programs at Brandon Regional Health Centre, Concordia Hospital and Health Sciences Centre will expand needed capacity.

“It’ not a matter of, ‘Hey, we need more spine surgeons,’” said HSC spinal surgeon Dr. Jay Toor.

“We have the spine surgeons — we need the (operating room) time,” government support and cutting-edge equipment that’s coming from the HSC Foundation.

But Tory health critic Kathleen Cook said the decision, which came a month after the newly elected NDP government paused the task force’s work for evaluation, was premature.

“Those are longer-term solutions but there are patients waiting for care today,” Cook said at an unrelated PC caucus event Friday.

“I think it’s irresponsible to abandon the work of the task force before we have the capacity here in Manitoba to meet patient needs.”

While the task force eliminated the wait times for cataract surgery, some imaging tests and orthopedic spine surgery, the panel was accused of running roughshod over the public health system and funnelling taxpayer dollars to out-of-province surgery clinics.

“I’ve heard loud and clear from system leaders that the approach was, at times, disruptive, not co-ordinated, not efficient and incredibly costly,” the health minister said.

Some procedures contracted by the task force in the U.S. cost seven times more than they would have in Manitoba, said Asagwara. Most contracts with health-care centres in the U.S. were untendered.

The task force had a $40-million budget in 2021-22, a $110-million budget in 2022-23 and a $130-million spending authority this year.

Cook said the Tories stand for fiscal responsibility, but not at the expense of Manitobans who are suffering.

“I think if you were to ask any of those Manitobans who are waiting for surgery what their priority is — is it getting the care they need quicker, or is it the cost to the taxpayer? — they’re going to say it’s getting care quicker.”

Patients who have scheduled care and or were in the queue will get their treatments and procedures as scheduled and without delay, Asagwara said. The government will keep patients informed about the status of their upcoming treatments and procedures.

The patient portal to self-refer to private and out-of-province care options has been closed.

“Manitobans who are already scheduled for an appointment will get the care they need, and anyone waiting on the list for a surgery will continue to be eligible for care here in Manitoba,” Asagwara said.

The health minister said the government has targeted outcomes, and anticipates the added surgical slates will result in an additional 1,000 orthopedic surgeries a year.

There are more than 3,000 Manitobans now waiting for spinal surgery, which has some of the longest wait times in the system, and results in pain and suffering that sends more people to already-crowded emergency rooms, said Asagwara.

“Investing this way is going to allow for literally thousands of Manitobans waiting for spine surgery to get that care in their own province, in a timely way,” Asagwara said, noting the province had spent $7.5 million a year on out-of-province spine procedures.

“We’re going to be saving millions that we can and should be investing in the public system.”

Provincial authority Shared Health will take over management of the task force, and will be in charge of getting a mobile MRI machine up and running in northern Manitoba. Asagwara expects it to hit the road in a year.

“This is something we’ve been advocating for a long time,” Dr. Harsahil Singh, chief medical officer for the Northern Health region, told the Free Press, noting the regional authority has spent money on patient trips to Winnipeg for MRIs that could have been used to pay for a machine serving northern residents.

He said the mobile MRI will be used to diagnose people from Thompson to The Pas and Flin Flon.

“We’re literally bringing health care to Manitobans,” said Asagwara, noting 5,000 Manitobans in the region are waiting for an MRI.

Building publicly delivered testing capacity to improve access and reduce MRI wait times — which have risen to 21 weeks — is an encouraging “different approach,” said the president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals.

“We have known for a long time what doctors and Shared Health have stated, that Manitoba needs more specialized allied health professionals to perform that testing,” Jason Linklater said in a prepared statement.

The association that represents 7,000 allied health professionals is “eager to work with the new government to ensure staffing comes first,” the statement said.

Asagwara said the province is sending a message to health-care workers.

“What we’re signalling… is we’re investing in you,” the minister said.

— with files from Danielle Da Silva

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca