The Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals is extremely disappointed that the WRHA and the Pallister Government is continuing with its cuts to our health system with the recent Phase 2 announcements.
We have consistently advocated that there are other ways to improve our system if only they had sought the advice of front line health care professionals instead of high priced consultants. These consultants have demonstrated that they see only the cost of services we provide and ignore the value.
Nowhere in this announcement is any mention of the deteriorating working conditions in so many of our worksites.
I have been strongly advocating that as an Employer, both the WRHA and Shared Health are ignoring the deep impacts that these changes are having, not only those who have had positions deleted, but also those left who now must work even more short-staffed. Many of the stories members have shared with me are truly heartbreaking. And they are infuriating because it did not have to be this way.
The announcement details also completely ignore the fact that they have outright deleted many outpatient services resulting in many Manitobans never having access to the expertise of our Professionals because they will be unable to afford private care, not to mention the loss of employment for members who provided these excellent services.
There are still so many questions left unanswered. I know our members in Phase 2 sites will now have great concerns for the services you provide. I also know that there are serious concerns around which other services are going to be deleted outside the “healing the health system” plan. I am also very aware that our members in other regions are also terribly concerned about what is yet to come in their sites.
So far, my pleas to the Employer to remember that their own Employees are hurting, worried, and angry have produced little evidence that they care. That will not stop me from continuing to advocate and demand that they treat all of us with the basic human dignity that each of us deserve.
Bob Moroz
President, MAHCP