Better Health Care, Sooner

The NDP has turned the corner on health care. Our system is no longer in crisis. But health care is no less a priority for our government.

Shorter waiting times

“While many provinces struggle with waiting times, Manitoba bucks the trend.... Manitoba is a provincial star in its bid to reduce health-care queues.” (The Globe and Mail, 21 November 2006)

• The wait time in Manitoba for radiation therapy for cancer is now just one week, better than the national benchmark of four weeks. (CIHI Wait Time Tables, Feb. 29/08) When we came into office waits were dangerously long at 6 weeks.



• We’ve slashed the wait time for cardiac bypass surgery. Manitoba (along with Alberta) now has the shortest wait time for cardiac bypass surgery, with no wait for urgent cases. (CIHI Wait Time Tables, Feb. 29/08)



• Hip and knee wait times are 15 weeks (as of August 2008), down 66% from 44 weeks when we announced our plan to decrease wait times in 2005.



• Wait times for MRIs are 11 weeks (as of August 2008) - down from 28 weeks in 1999. Over five times as many MRI tests are being performed as in 1999. We have added five MRI machines since 1999, including the MRI machines in the province outside of Winnipeg at Brandon and Boundary Trails. We have also committed to adding an MRI at the Children’s Hospital dedicated for kids. In 1999 there were only two, both in Winnipeg.



• Wait times for CT scans have dropped to four weeks (as of August 2008) from 18 weeks in 1998. We’ve more than doubled the number of scanners since 1999 from nine to 20.

More health care professionals

• There are 288 more doctors practicing in Manitoba today than in 1999, including 105 more in rural Manitoba, as well as 127 more specialists.



• We’ve committed to hire 100 more doctors over this mandate. The Tories didn’t promise any doctors.



• In August, we welcomed the biggest medical school class ever at 110 students, which included 26 rural students, the largest number on record. The Tories cut medical school spaces from 85 to 70 in the 1990s, and we’ve been adding spaces since 1999.



• We’ve introduced and expanded grants to medical graduates in return for service in Manitoba.



• We’re running a successful program to help foreign-trained doctors get the needed accreditation to practice in Manitoba.



• There are now almost 1,800 more nurses practicing in Manitoba than in 1999.



• Budget 2008 invests in 40 additional nurse training spaces beginning this September as a first step towards our election commitment for 100 more nurse training spaces which includes more spaces in Brandon.



• The NDP re-instated the diploma RN program and expanded nursing programs at the universities of Brandon and Manitoba, the University College of the North, Assiniboine Community College and Red River College.



• We are training almost three times as many nurses as were trained under the Tories. There are now 3,115 nurses enrolled in training, a 177% increase over 1999 when 1,123 nurses were in training.



• LPN to RN programs have been extended to rural and northern communities.



• We’ve added nurse practitioners, who are qualified to prescribe medications, order and manage diagnostic tests and perform minor surgical procedures into our mix of frontline caregivers. In the past year we have announced a total of 30 more nurse practitioners, bringing the total number of funded positions in Manitoba to 76.



• In the last provincial election in 2007 we committed to hiring 130 technologists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. As of September 2008 we have already hired 55 technologists (includes both existing and newly funded positions) and 10 physician assistants. We have also funded 30 new nurse practitioners bringing us to 95 of the promised 130 positions.



• We have been increasing technologist training programs in Manitoba. Since 2003 we have added an additional 50 seats for technologist training. Manitoba is now training 40 radiologic technologists each year (up from 25 in 2004).



• We have also increased the lab technologist training seats by another five this year for a total of 40 per year at Red River College. This is up from only 25 seats in 2005.



• In the 1990s, the Tories cut these types of technologist training programs at Red River.

Moving Forward

• We will be putting 100 new doctors in our health care system over the next four years. As part of our plan we’re adding 10 new medical school places at the U of M, creating 10 more spaces in the International Medical Graduate program, setting aside funds to fill vacancies when rural and northern doctors need to be relieved, offering resettlement allowances to doctors moving to Manitoba, and introducing new scholarships for Aboriginal medical students. We will hire 700 new nurses and nurse practitioners, including 250 for personal care homes. Staffing at personal care homes will also be bolstered with 100 more health care aides, and 50 new front-line professionals such as physiotherapists and clinical dieticians.



• Our government is adding 100 new training spaces for nurses, as well as seven new graduate nursing seats at the U of M to increase the number of qualified instructors.



• We will expand the Nurses Recruitment and Retention Fund to help keep nurses in the profession longer.

Investing in health facilities throughout Manitoba

Since 1999 the NDP government has expanded and modernized almost 100 health care facilities in Manitoba

• A $135 million redevelopment of the Health Sciences Centre, the largest health capital project in Manitoba’s history



• A Centre of Excellence for cardiac care at the St. Boniface General Hospital



• New hospitals in Brandon, Morden-Winkler, Gimli, Beausejour, Shoal Lake, Swan Valley and Ste. Anne, and another on the way in Selkirk, as well as the redevelopment of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre



• $17.5 million for developing space for leading-edge programs at the Misericordia



• Community health centres in Wabowden, Waterhen, Camperville, The Pas, Sapotaweyak, Rosenort, Flin Flon, Riverton and St. Laurent, with another on the way in Dauphin



• Chemotherapy centres in Pinawa, Deloraine, Russell, Hamiota and Neepawa



• Dialysis units in Garden Hill, Norway House, Portage la Prairie and Swan River



• Modernization and reconstruction of the Westman Lab, serving Manitobans outside Winnipeg



• ACCESS centres, which integrate community-based health care with social services, in Brandon, River East and Transcona, with another slated for northwest Winnipeg

Moving Forward

• We’re building a new, $40 million women’s hospital at the Health Sciences Centre.



• A new Women and Children’s Health Centre, featuring a community birthing centre, will be built in south Winnipeg. It will include other services such as parenting support, training in childhood injury prevention and dietary counseling.



• Our government will build a new centre that will amalgamate services for children and youth with disabilities and special needs, replacing the existing Rehab Centre for Children.



• We’re renovating and expanding the maternity ward at St. Boniface to include four new beds for high-risk women and four new labour and delivery beds.



• Our government will be constructing new dialysis units in Hodgson near Peguis, Berens River, Russell and Gimli, and rebuilding the emergency room in Portage to provide improved ambulance access, additional treatment rooms, a decontamination area and isolation rooms.



• The Ste. Anne Hospital will be renovated to increase operating space, enabling it to double the number of surgeries performed each year.



• A new ACCESS centre that provides one-stop shopping for a range of health and social services will be built in St. James.



• We will create 1,750 new long-term care spaces throughout the province.

Better emergency services

• The NDP has refurbished the entire emergency fleet with 164 state-of-the-art ambulances for Winnipeg and Rural Manitoba.



• Health Sciences has two new emergency rooms, one for children and one for adults.



• Work on new emergency departments for Seven Oaks, Victoria General and Concordia is underway.



• We’re expanding emergency medicine education, more than doubling emergency physician training seats from five to 13.



• Family doctors who return to school to specialize in emergency medicine or anesthesiology are eligible for grants of $50,000.



• The NDP built a new ambulance dispatch centre for the province that uses computer-aided dispatching and automatic vehicle location technology.



• Pan Am Clinic and the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre are now open seven days a week to give patients speedier treatment for non-life-threatening injuries and relieve pressure from emergency rooms.



• Our now province-wide Health Links and Info Santé medical information services assist Manitobans in making appropriate use of emergency rooms.



• We’re building a new emergency medical service facility in West St. Paul. So far our government has constructed or substantially upgraded 16 ambulance stations.

Moving Forward

• Manitoba Health has reached groundbreaking agreement with the Manitoba Medical Association that will ensure 24-hour coverage in all emergency departments in Winnipeg and provide very competitive salaries for all ER doctors across the province.



• We’re establishing community teaching sites for the U of M’s new ER program at the Grace, Seven Oaks, Concordia and Victoria.



• Five clinical assistant positions are being added to the Grace Hospital’s ER in a pilot project to better support ER doctors. We’re also hiring dedicated pharmacists for 10 ERs across the province.



• Our government has relieved pressure on ERs by making intravenous therapy available in local health or ACCESS centres, and will be staffing these centres with more nurse practitioners to treat patients with chronic diseases.



• We’re making new supports available to ER doctors, such as expanded training and more front-line staff.



• We will set up a mental health ER in Winnipeg, the first of its kind in Canada.

Innovative solutions

• The NDP is introducing a province-wide electronic health record system that gives health-care providers immediate access to a patient’s most up-to-date medical information.



• We’ve installed a gamma knife at the Health Sciences Centre which can remove brain tumours on an out-patient basis — again, the first in Canada. We will soon become the first in Canada to have a non-invasive cancer knife to treat cancers and tumours in the rest of the body.



• A two-room operating model and an expanded role for clinical assistants is enabling Concordia to perform almost three times as many hip and knee surgeries.



• The NDP is investing in a new Firefighters Burn Unit to improve care for burn victims.

Moving Forward

• Our government is investing $3.6 million in constructing a clinical learning and simulation facility enabling health professionals to practice technical and complicated procedures while using highly advanced and innovative equipment.



• We’re implementing a comprehensive cancer strategy over the next five years focusing on prevention, early detection and leading-edge treatment options.



• We have introduced a new $1,020 tax credit for family caregivers in recognition of the vital contribution of volunteer caregivers that takes effect January 2009.



• A pilot project has been launched in four clinics to free up more time for family doctors to see more patients by introducing a mix of health care professionals with expertise in managing chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension. This project was expanded to other clinics throughout the province.

Figures are current as of October, 2008

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