Kinew hits pause on Manitoba surgical and diagnostic task force to examine needs, spending
Age of retribution for health-care workers speaking out publicly is over, premier says
Premier Wab Kinew is pressing the brakes on the provincial task force created to tackle Manitoba's surgical and diagnostic backlogs.
"At this stage, we have asked them to not commit to any new … initiatives until we get a handle on the situation here," he said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Kinew said he wants to meet with workers on the front lines of the health-care system to understand their needs and to reduce bureaucracy at the highest levels of the system.
There was a lack of financial oversight by the previous Progressive Conservative government, he said, and he wants to evaluate expenditures but will honour all current contracts.
The diagnostic and surgical recovery task force — a team of health-care professionals and other experts — was created in December 2021. As of March 2023, the province had committed $240 million to support initiatives implemented through it, the government's website says.
Kinew said he is concerned about a lack of oversight of the task force's decision-making, "and that they were making decisions about spending without having a systemwide view of what's happening in the health-care system."
People who are already in the process of being referred for care through the task force's work will have those arrangements honoured, Kinew said.
Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook said the new NDP government must explain how stopping some of the task force's work will affect existing backlogs, and explain its plan "to help Manitobans waiting in pain to get their surgeries," she said in an email.
"Manitobans deserve transparency, not political games. It's time for the NDP to get out of election mode and start behaving like a government."
Open letter to health-care workers
Kinew and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara also used Tuesday's news conference to repeat a mantra that began during the election campaign and has been repeated several times since the NDP came to power — a thank-you to health-care workers and public acknowledgement they are needed as the province works on a system they say was dismantled and damaged by the PCs.
"During one of the most difficult times to work in health care, you've taken wonderful care of us and our loved ones. Now it's time for us to take better care of you," Kinew said.
"Our government is committed to giving you the respect and the resources that you need and that you deserve."
Kinew and Asagwara said they sent a letter to health-care workers, reiterating the government's promise to give them more say in how the system operates, taking into account their years of experience so that solutions from the bedside make their way up the chain of command.
They promised to rebuild the relationship between the province and the workers, with Asagwara saying "trust has been broken due to the previous government's mismanagement of health care and mistreatment of health-care workers."
However, neither Kinew or Asagwara could say if any new advisory committees would be established so that workers could contribute to the restructuring of the system.
"We look forward to providing opportunities to front-line health-care providers … to have their voices heard and their expertise respected," Asagwara would only say.
Kinew said he welcomes dissenting opinions and criticisms "in order to build a stronger health-care plan that works for everyone.
"And here I want to pause to make a specific point, which is the idea of retribution in health care, for those who speak out from the front lines, is now over. Feel free to speak out about the needs within your specific setting, about the needs system wide."
The focus will be on addressing the problems, not the whistleblowers, he said.
The premier and health minister also promised to:
- Work to end mandatory overtime so health-care workers have work-life balance.
- Hold management accountable for measurable goals in improving the health-care system.
- Provide more training opportunities and incentives to encourage Manitobans to join the health-care workforce.
Reporters asked multiple times for practical details on how those promises would be acted upon. Kinew said many more announcements will come and asked for patience.
"The task before us, of repairing the damage that has been caused to our health-care system, is going to take years to accomplish," he said.
"Today, we are beginning the work of fixing health care with communicating our values — values of listening, values of respect."
The PCs' Cook described the NDP's announcement as "full of platitudes" that "lacked any tangible action."
One of the government's key promises is to boost staffing in the health-care system.
No option is off the table, including an international recruiting trip, Kinew said. The previous PC government embarked on a recruitment mission to the Philippines earlier this year.
"To those folks who have recently left the public health-care system in Manitoba, either to retire or to find a better work-life balance in other places, it is with the greatest humility that I would ask you to consider coming back," said Kinew.
He also said reducing wait times in hospital remains a priority, but the government will work first to stabilize them.
Wait times have increased in recent months.
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