Some hospitals may be converted to care homes as health-care overhaul spreads to rural Manitoba
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/12/2017 (2296 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
After launching an overhaul of Winnipeg’s hospital system this year, the Progressive Conservative government will turn its attention to rural Manitoba in 2018.
Premier Brian Pallister gave few details at a year-end news conference on Thursday, saying Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen would have more to say on the subject in the not-too-distant future.
However, it appears the government plans to adopt a more centralized approach that will see some small hospitals repurposed as personal care homes — or some other type of health facility. The emphasis will be on better equipped regional centres and more mobile staff, Pallister said.
The premier defended the government’s decision earlier this year to eliminate some rural ambulance stations outside of Winnipeg in favour of beefing up the number of paramedic crews that are on duty at any one time.
“Health care is not just bricks and mortar. Health care is the availability of the professionals when you have a heart attack on your farm and you need somebody there…,” he said, adding that most rural Manitobans understand that.
“Proximity to a regional centre where you can get a variety of services and better care – this is how most rural Manitobans view health care now.”
Goertzen issued a statement late Thursday saying that Shared Health, a new organization responsible for identifying provincewide efficiencies, would develop a new clinical and preventative health services plan that would include a review of rural health services and planning. It expects to provide the analysis to the government late next spring.
(Meanwhile, Goertzen also said that a long-awaited report from the province’s Wait Times Reduction Task Force will be released next week. The report is to address waits for emergency care as well as for certain priority procedures, such as hip and knee replacements.)
Pallister said Manitoba is behind other provinces, such as Saskatchewan, in tackling rural hospital rationalization.
He said some facilities have already stopped accepting patients but they’ve not officially been closed. “There have been hospitals decommissioning in Manitoba for the last number of years – (just) not announced.”
Meanwhile, Pallister said the PCs have not abandoned a promise to “fast-track” construction of 1,200 personal care home beds in Manitoba. Progress has been slow as the government has insisted that project proponents build facilities for far less money than was allowed in the past.
Even if the target is achieved, it may not be enough to meet the needs of an ever-rising number of elderly Manitobans who need care, the premier said. “We also know that part of the solution is better care available for people to stay in their own home, too,” he said.
At the news conference, which lasted about 50 minutes, Pallister answered questions on several other topics, including his slow recovery from a hiking mishap in New Mexico last month.
He defended his government’s refusal to sign onto a federal-provincial deal — approved by every other province — that would have given it more than three-quarters of the tax revenue from legalized marijuana. He said “150 per cent would be better, quite frankly.”
The provinces are going to do the “heavy lifting” in establishing a system to deal with recreational cannabis use, Pallister said. “You’re talking about a massive risk for a questionable outcome with assured cost consequences and questionable revenue. And the provinces are being asked to take on those risks,” he said.
Asked what share of cannabis tax revenues might be passed on to municipalities, Pallister was non-committal. He said the province will conduct an analysis of their costs at the appropriate time.
“I’ve got a great reputation for working with municipal governments effectively. That’s not going to change,” he told reporters.
The premier said the government would soon announce how it will spend revenues obtained from a new carbon tax to be instituted next year. He said the government is still receiving advice from Manitobans on what portion will be devoted to “green infrastructure,” how much will be spent on initiatives to combat climate change and how much will “go back to households.”
While he had previously indicated that such information would be available long before now, he said the process “took longer because we listened (to Manitobans) longer.”
Pallister said he remains firmly committed to lowering the provincial sales tax to seven per cent from eight by the end of his first term — even if he has to use borrowed money to do it. He also said the PCs are “on track” to eliminate the provincial deficit within eight years of taking over government.
Asked about the prognosis for his injured arm, the premier replied: “Not good.” He said the limb is broken in four places — although it’s not expected to require surgery. He suffered a setback recently when he fell on it, he said.
“Suffice to say, it’s not a simple break. But it’s starting to heal,” he added.
Pallister said he is expecting to travel to his vacation home in Costa Rica next week and return “early in the new year.” It will be the first time he’s visited the Central American property since January.
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Larry Kusch
Legislature reporter
Larry Kusch didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life until he attended a high school newspaper editor’s workshop in Regina in the summer of 1969 and listened to a university student speak glowingly about the journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa.
History
Updated on Thursday, December 14, 2017 12:34 PM CST: Adds photo
Updated on Thursday, December 14, 2017 5:31 PM CST: writethrough