Province hints at increased funding for wheelchair services

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This article was published 06/02/2024 (581 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba resident who has been fighting for improvements to provincial wheelchair services says she now sees a glimmer of hope.

In a statement Tuesday and a January letter from Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine to Steinbach resident Joy Gardner, the province is dropping hints it will soon address perceived funding and service gaps.

“I hope it’s not just words,” said Gardner, who recently spoke publicly about her battle to get a power lift for her wheelchair.

The polio survivor, who is in her 70s, has been calling for policy to change so assistive equipment — such as the power lift — is included in provincial coverage.

She received a new wheelchair in 2022 through Manitoba Possible’s wheelchair program, which is funded by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority via provincial health and families budgets.

The wheelchair didn’t come with a power lift, and Gardner was told such devices are no longer provided because they’re commercially available in Manitoba. However, the price tag is more than $3,000.

Even if she could afford it, Gardner said, she can’t find a private-sector technician in her area qualified to install it.

In response, Fontaine wrote to Gardner on Jan. 9 (she provided a copy of the letter to the Free Press).

“I appreciate your suggestion to develop a policy allowing Manitoba Possible to provide more options to clients (including power lift seats) and other devices deemed necessary by occupational therapists and medical practitioners,” the families minister stated.

“The Manitoba government is in the process of gathering more information about wheelchair repair needs and we hope to have a number of issues resolved in early 2024.”

Gardner said a provincial government policy analyst also reached out to her last week.

The senior said she is hopeful for change and lives in fear of falling while transferring from her wheelchair. One such incident last year resulted in a torn rotator cuff.

“It’s getting serious,” Gardner said. “It’s an everyday thing, and every day I get up, I think, is today going to be a fall?”

In a statement Tuesday, the families minister said Manitoba Possible does “amazing work” through its wheelchair program but hasn’t been getting enough funding to meet demand. “We are working closely with Manitoba Possible to address these gaps and are committed to ensuring more Manitobans can have better access to the repair services they need.”

Meantime, Winnipeg resident Tom Landy, who spent four years confined without basic mobility, said he still can’t use his new wheelchair because of the protracted process to get custom seating.

Landy has a degenerative condition called spinal muscular atrophy and requires a custom sip-and-puff motorized wheelchair.

He started the process of getting a new wheelchair in 2019, and said he dealt with layers of funding approvals.

The new wheelchair was finally ordered last year, and eventually delivered, but he can’t use it without the custom seating. Landy said he faces another six-week wait, at least.

Scheduling with vendors has been a “nightmare,” and the process takes entirely too long, said Landy, who spoke publicly about his situation last summer.

“I have been in solitary confinement for four years now and I’m not seeing much change,” Landy wrote in a text message Tuesday. “There is too much red tape in the system.

“Why is nobody fixing that? It’s just so frustrating.”

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca