Melita granted extra funding to boost clinic staffing

BRANDON — Melita Mayor Bill Holden said he is breathing easier after the provincial government came through with a partial response to the municipality’s plea to return primary care back to the community.

Melita’s proposal — submitted jointly with the neighbouring Municipality of Two Borders and Prairie Mountain Health — requested provincial funding for a new physician, emergency medical technicians and an additional lab technician.

It was submitted to Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara in the first week of April.

“We got funding for a new nurse practitioner, another LPN (licensed practical nurse) for our hospital, and a mental health and addictions support worker,” Holden said Thursday after the province announced the three new front-line positions.

“There’s still a long way to go, and I think we all know that, but at least we got the attention of Health Minister Asagwara,” he said.

The funding will also allow the Melita Medical Clinic to extend its hours into the evening, so families can access care after work or school, the province said in release.

Asagwara acknowledged the region “deserves more access to primary care” due to its growing population.

“We’ve been working with leadership from the Municipality of Two Borders and the Town of Melita, who have long advocated for more investments in connected care models that serve the needs of families and seniors in the area,” Asagwara said in the release.

The nurse practitioner position will be filled by a person who is from the Melita area and is currently in training.

Prairie Mountain has sponsored that nurse, said Treena Slate, CEO of the health authority.

“If all goes well, PMH would hire the sponsored nurse into the new position at the completion of her studies in early fall. Advertising for the other two new positions will begin as soon as possible,” Slate wrote in an email to the Brandon Sun.

The clinic is staffed by two nurse practitioners and Dr. Alexander McKinnon, a locum who goes to Melita from Deloraine once a week. The lab has one technician who works Monday to Friday, conducting tests and doing X-rays once a week.

In September 2023, the emergency department was permanently closed, which meant the hospital became a transitional facility for patients waiting to go to long-term care.

The town’s physician retired at about the same time, and eight months ago, Melita lost its last EMT to Winnipeg.

The government’s show of support is good news, said Holden, but he added that the biggest problem is still the lack of ambulance services.

“Because of our location, it’s a three and a half hour wait for an ambulance in parts of our catchment area, which is totally, totally, totally ridiculous and could cost lives,” he said.

“We have two perfectly good ambulances sitting there, so it’s crucial that we get these ones back on.”

He added: “We still have several ideas that we’re going to put by Shared Health and Minister Asagwara, and we’re going to keep pushing until we get some ambulances back on the road and our lab back up to full operation.”

Included in Melita’s catchment area is the Canupawakpa Dakota Nation, which has submitted its own proposal to the Town of Melita and Municipality of Two Borders to contribute capital funding to the hospital.

Holden wasn’t able to give an update on that proposal but said it would need to align with Prairie Mountain’s guidelines.

— Brandon Sun