Tories’ so-far fruitless private contract to bring 150 MDs to Manitoba ‘disappointing’: health minister

Manitoba’s health minister is expressing disappointment that a recruitment contract to bring 150 doctors to the province has so far failed to recruit even one.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the government is reviewing a private contract signed under the previous government that was to bring 50 family doctors to Winnipeg, 50 to northern Manitoba and 50 to rural areas. The two-year contract was signed with Canadian Health Labs in July.

“The agreement with Canada Health Labs was signed by the previous government. They have not produced a physician yet for Manitoba, so I am doing my due diligence as the minister to evaluate that contract thoroughly to determine the best next steps,” Asagwara said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday.

“Of course, it’s disappointing. Manitobans are counting on governments, the previous government and our government included, to make sure that we’re recruiting the physicians needed to provide the care that they deserve.”

The contract was awarded by Shared Health. On Tuesday, the health agency confirmed no doctors have signed on to practise in Manitoba through the arrangement thus far. Shared Health didn’t say whether the contract was renewed for a third year or whether it will be terminated early.

“It’s also important to note that there are many ways that we have to approach recruiting physicians to our province in order to meet people’s needs. We are taking a dynamic approach to this challenge,” Asagwara said.

“There is no silver bullet to making sure that we have the doctors that we need in our province. And so we are working with the experts in Manitoba, we’re listening to front-line health-care workers, we’re working with Doctors Manitoba and other partners to move ourselves in a better direction and to recruit the physicians that Manitobans are counting on.”

The minister’s office said the government has been monitoring the contract since taking office in October.

Ontario-based Canadian Health Labs’ business practices came under scrutiny over the past month following a Globe and Mail investigation over its travel nurse costs in Newfoundland. Canadian Health Lab’s contract with Shared Health in Manitoba stated the private company would be paid depending on the number of doctors it recruits, between $25,000 to $45,000 per doctor, the Globe and Mail reported Tuesday.

In an unsigned statement to the Free Press, Canadian Health Labs said Shared Health awarded the contract after a competitive request-for-proposals process “in recognition of CHL’s proven track record of helping Canadians access quality health care by solving staffing shortages.”

“Since the contract was awarded, a significant amount of work has been done by CHL to recruit family physicians, the vast majority of which are international candidates. CHL continues to work closely with Shared Health to recruit family physicians to fill vacancies across Manitoba, including in rural, remote, and underserviced communities affected by the current health care crisis.”

Asagwara didn’t say whether the contract would be terminated. One of the NDP’s election promises was to hire 400 physicians within five years. Responding to a reporter’s questions Tuesday, the minister didn’t provide a number to indicate how many in total have been recruited so far.

“We are taking steps every day in the right direction. We have some pretty exciting news that you’ll see in our budget on April 2, and the work is going to continue,” the minister said.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca