Despite high hopes for health-care funding, boost in Manitoba budget doesn't keep up with inflation

It should come as no surprise that new health-care funding was the dominant focus in Manitoba's 2022 budget, considering what the Progressive Conservative government teased before its spending plan was made public Tuesday.

But the almost four per cent increase in spending doesn't keep pace with the staggering annual rate of inflation, which climbed to 6.1 per cent in February. 

That means the total $7.26 billion earmarked for health care, while significant, may not go as far as the provincial government hopes, one economist said.

To stretch health dollars, "the only source you have is really finding efficiencies," said Phil Cyrenne, an economics professor at the University of Winnipeg.

The alternative is to "keep doing what you're doing and compensating the people within that hospital or clinic at the rate you were before," but "if you take that approach then it seems like it's a modest increase" to total health-care funding, he said.

The government's success will depend on the level of cost increases the health system has to endure, Cyrenne said.

In its new spending plan, the government promises $277 million in additional funding for health care, for a total of $7.26 billion.

The total funding consists of $6.69 billion for the health department, $399 million on mental health, $54 million for seniors and two other line items in the budget: $110 million to address the surgical and diagnostic backlog and $11.6 million to create more nursing seats at post-secondary institutions.

Health care, mental health and seniors were previously treated as a single department.

This year's funding is four per cent higher than 2021's total health-care funding of $6.98 billion. That's the highest percentage increase during the current Tory government's time in office.

Spending doesn't meet needs: advocate

Health care was expected to see more financial support in the budget, especially after the pandemic illustrated the system's shortcomings.

There have been complaints of high wait times, surgeries have been cancelled, and patients had to be transferred because there were not enough beds, or staff, to care for everyone in need.

Thomas Linner, provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition, acknowledges the government's budget made progress on health care, but said the new spending doesn't meet the current needs.

Aside from the already announced commitment of 400 more nursing seats, the health care advocacy organization's director said the budget doesn't address the many staffing vacancies in the sector.

"Certainly as a communications exercise, the government does want to send the signal that all is well in health care. They want to calm down the concerns that are out there," he said.

"One of the ways to do that is to show that you are throwing a lot of money at health care, and absolutely they're throwing a lot of money at health care; every government throws a lot of money at health care."

However, "that doesn't mean that the spending that is being done is commensurate to the needs in specific areas," he said.

Asked to respond to those concerns, a government spokesperson said the budget prioritized the health and well-being of Manitobans with a $7.2 billion outlay.

"Manitobans told us that health care is their number one priority and our government responded with the most significant health-care investment in the history of our province," the spokesperson said.

In the first question period following the budget's tabling, the Official Opposition classified the government's new spending on a health care as a de facto cut, since it doesn't keep up with inflation.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said inflation, now at its highest point in decades, eats up the money of individual Manitobans, and the same is true in health care.

"With these amounts that the PCs are talking about, it's going to translate to less care at the bedside," he told reporters Wednesday.

"We know that health care is a priority. Certainly, we would welcome additional investments in health care, but what we're seeing on offer from the PCs isn't enough."

Some other highlights of the province's health care spend include $9 million for 28 additional critical care beds and $100 million toward the expansion of St. Boniface Hospital's emergency department, along with the construction of 40 new supportive recovery units and six new crisis stabilization beds.