Health authority to upgrade info policy
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/02/2009 (6353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
THE Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is spending $125,000 to improve how it communicates — just weeks after the city’s top health officials were accused of withholding key facts about Brian Sinclair’s death.
Michele Augert, the WRHA’s director of communication and public affairs, said the WRHA is doing a communications review to improve how it shares information with staff and the public. The initiative began in October, but Augert said Sinclair’s tragic death in September underlined the importance of doing a better job.
The WRHA hired Prairie Research Associates to conduct focus groups with staff and the public to get a clear picture of changes staff and the public would like to see.
"Whatever we can learn from (Sinclair’s death) to improve our communication — we’re open to any and all ideas that will help us improve the way we communicate in the future," Augert said. "We do recognize we need to do a better job in how we communicate."
Critics say the initiative proves health officials "don’t get it."
"The problem is not that they need a smoother, fancier, better way of communicating the misleading answers; the problem is they have to level with the public," said Arthur Schafer, a University of Manitoba ethics professor.
"The outrage, both with the brown- envelope scandal and Brian Sinclair scandal, is they were misleading, they were deceptive, they didn’t level with the public."
Dr. Brock Wright, the WRHA’s senior vice-president of clinical services, recently ignited public outrage when he said Sinclair never formally presented himself to the Health Sciences Centre’s emergency room triage desk — despite a review of hospital videotapes made public by Manitoba’s chief medical examiner that found Sinclair did approach the desk seeking care.
The gaffe called the WRHA’s explanation of Sinclair’s death into question and prompted calls for senior officials to resign.
Sinclair, a 45-year-old double amputee, was found dead in the HSC on Sept. 21, 2008, after waiting 34 hours for treatment.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca