View from the Legislature - Aug 28, 2015
- Details
- Published on Friday, August 28, 2015
By Leanne Rowat
Riding Mountain MLA
Shortages have directly been affecting health care coverage in our constituency for a long time. Another new challenge has come up in the last week as both physicians currently practising in Shoal Lake have handed in their resignations, effective in November. It was especially upsetting to see that as this devastating news was reaching our communities, this NDP government put out a press release boasting, “There are 66 more doctors providing care to Manitoba families throughout the province as compared to the same time last year.”
In a conversation with Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) I was told there are actually less physicians working in our regional health authority overall compared to this time last year. It would appear this NDP government is once again masking serious health care situations with information that is irrelevant and misleading to so many rural communities.
PMH recruits new doctors from two main pools: Manitoba graduates and international graduates. Typically the Manitoba grads will start work between July 1 and Sept. 1 while international grads start in February. Moving forward, it is likely that there will be significant changes to the health care options in Shoal Lake as there are simply not enough resources to fill the void that losing both local physicians will cause. PMH says they allocate their resources based on prioritized needs. It is safe to assume that residents of Shoal Lake feel their community doctor situation deserves to be a priority, and like most Manitobans, they are tired of paying more and getting less from the government.
NDP waste is threatening essential frontline services. On top of the doctor shortage issues facing Shoal Lake and many other communities, there are also ongoing nurse shortages, emergency room closures, personal care home issues and increased wait times for appointments and procedures. It is clear this government is failing to provide adequate and accessible health care in Westman. Manitobans are tired of the same NDP broken promises and deserve a change for the better.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office in Russell at 204-773-3618, 1-888-548-7499 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
