Unions call for removal of Shared Health board member

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This article was published 04/04/2022 (1306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A coalition of health-care unions is calling on the province to remove a member of the Shared Health board of directors with ties to a for-profit home care company.

Manitoba Health Coalition director Thomas Linner said the Progressive Conservative government must revoke the recent appointment of Brenda Martinussen.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced Martinussen was joining the board in a March 23 news release. The provincial government identified Martinussen as the chief operating officer of Nurse Next Door, a private for-profit company providing home care services through franchisees across Canada.

“It is just explicitly wrong for a private competitor to the public home care system to be sitting on a board that governs the public home care sector,” Linner said at a media availability with Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson and Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 204 president Debbie Boissonneault.

“It shows a clear indication toward privatization of our health-care system,” Linner argued.

The Free Press was unable to reach Martinussen for comment Monday.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Martinussen was COO for the Winnipeg Nurse Next Door Home franchise from January 2020 to March 2022. A spokesman for the company confirmed she was employed with the local franchise, but was not COO for the corporation.

Direct Action in Support of Community Homes is the franchisee for Nurse Next Door in Winnipeg. Martinussen is listed as the chief strategy and growth officer for the non-profit that runs residential services, day programs and respite for people with intellectual disabilities.

A request for an interview with DASCH chief executive officer and Nurse Next Door franchise operator Karen Fonseth was not returned by deadline.

Linner said private home care providers like Nurse Next Door recruit aggressively from the public sector, placing increased strain on a health system that has struggled immensely during the pandemic.

Boissonneault said home care in Manitoba has also been chronically underfunded and staff working in the system have not been heard by those setting health-care policy and direction.

“You want to hear from everybody, but they’re not listening to the people that actually do the jobs that say they need more funding every day,” Boissonneault said.

The union is currently in negotiations with Shared Health for a new contract, after five years without an agreement.

Jackson said the appointment was an insult to people working on the front lines of the health-care system.

“This government needs to rethink that decision very quickly,” Jackson said. “Nurses are appalled by this type of behaviour.”

Linner argued individuals with a financial interest in the operations and decisions of Shared Health should not be sitting on the board.

“What should be in place on our board is people who are actually concerned about the public system here, about the clients that they need to serve right now, and the fact that we are dealing with massive staffing shortages,” Linner said.

NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara (who uses they/them pronouns) put their support behind the coalition’s call to remove the board member.

“Manitobans want this government to invest in strengthening our public health care here in Manitoba, not handing positions to private corporations to potentially further their own private interest,” the Union Station MLA said Monday.

A request for an interview with Health Minister Audrey Gordon was not accommodated Monday.

In a statement, an unnamed spokesperson for Manitoba Health said Shared Health’s mandate does not include the provision of home care services in Manitoba.

“Home care services are run by the five regional health authorities and are not subject to oversight by Shared Health management or its board,” the statement concluded.

Follow-up questions sent to the minister’s office were not replied to by deadline.

According to the province, the board must must ensure Shared Health complies with legislation, regulations, provincial policies and ministerial directives.

Employees, medical staff, board members and individuals associated with organizations or corporations that receive funding from Shared Health were not eligible to be nominated to the board.

A spokesman for Shared Health said it currently does not have any funding relationships with DASCH.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca