Today, the Government of Manitoba delivered the Speech from the Throne outlining their priorities for the next year. MAHCP President Jason Linklater was in attendance, representing more than 7,000 allied health professionals working in Manitoba’s public health-care system.
Health-care commitments included:
- A new mobile MRI clinic for Thompson, The Pas and northern First Nations communities.
- Ongoing support for 7-day discharges leveraging allied health professionals such as Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and social workers.
- An additional 102 fully staffed beds in the next year to lower ER wait times, as well as the roll-out of a new ER Wait Times Strategy working with leaders in every hospital across the province.
- Provincial support of the Place of Pride campus, which will provide housing and community services for the senior 2SLGBTQ+ community in downtown Winnipeg.
- A commitment to renovate the Children’s Hospital ER.
- Construction to begin before the end of 2024 on Lac du Bonnet’s new Personal Care Home.
MAHCP President Jason Linklater has concerns about the government’s ability to keep their promises:
“Commitments to hire more staff, including allied health professionals, sound great. The problem lies in the execution. So far, the Province has created some new allied health positions – that’s good. They can’t fill those positions – that’s not good.
Vacancy rates in key areas aren’t budging, and in some cases, they are getting worse. Meanwhile, Manitoba is struggling to retain specialized health care professionals on the front lines. With every government announcement, allied health is asked to do more and are told more help is on the way, but it’s not happening fast enough.
There is still no plan – or contract – for allied health.”