Manitoba NDP's pledge to hire 200 paramedics, reopen Seven Oaks ER endorsed by paramedics' association
Paramedic Association of Manitoba suggests ER closures led to bottlenecks that tie up emergency responders
If elected next month, the Manitoba New Democrats say they'll hire 200 paramedics — a pledge that's receiving support from a group that represents first responders in the province.
That plan and a recently announced promise by the NDP to reopen three Winnipeg emergency rooms shuttered by the Progressive Conservative government earned a nod from the advocacy group Paramedic Association of Manitoba.
The Seven Oaks ER closure in 2019 was a "terrible decision for northwest Winnipeg," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said during a Friday morning news conference outside the hospital, located at McPhillips Street and Leila Avenue.
"There are a huge number of hours on a given paramedic shift that are being spent transporting people here at Seven Oaks to the Health Sciences Centre, because we no longer have those health services here."
Beginning in 2017 under then-premier Brian Pallister, the PC government closed ERs at the Seven Oaks, Concordia and Victoria hospitals in Winnipeg. All three now operate 24/7 urgent care centres.
The purported goal was to improve wait times and find ways to make Winnipeg's health-care system more efficient, though wait times at existing Winnipeg emergency rooms and urgent care centres haven't decreased.
The median wait for the past year or so has been upwards of 2½ hours, according to data from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, compared to the roughly 1.5 hours reported just before the ER closures began.
"It's all because the PCs wanted to save money," Kinew said. "Their plan has been a failure."
Kinew said half of the 200 paramedics the NDP would hire would fill positions cut under the Progressive Conservatives. The NDP would add another 100 to the system "to help meet the needs of Manitobans," he said.
Asked how much the new hires would cost, Kinew did not provide specifics.
Instead, he suggested it would be a "cost-neutral" investment. The money is already accounted for in existing budgets but is sitting unused due to unfilled health-care positions and cuts, Kinew said.
Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont questioned why Kinew didn't explain more about how the plan would work.
"We have people who are desperate and afraid,and the NDP aren't actually providing solutions — they're providing false hope," he said.
"We need to be straight with Manitobans, and our health-care system needs change, not more of the same."
Paramedics waiting hours with patients: association
Kinew also said bringing back the Seven Oaks ER would also reduce inter-facility patient transfers by paramedics, freeing them up to respond to more emergency calls.
Having an ER back at Seven Oaks would benefit those in the Amber Trails, Garden City and The Maples neighbourhoods, as well as surrounding communities such as West St. Paul, Stonewall and the west Interlake, he said.
Rebecca Clifton, director of the Paramedic Association of Manitoba, suggested the ER closures have had compounding effects.
It's an unfortunate but "daily reality" that paramedics wait hours with patients at "overly worked, busy emergency rooms" before beds or resources are freed up, she said at Friday's news conference.
"There's nothing more stressful than being a paramedic ... and you are stuck in a hallway or an ambulance bay with your patient because that patient cannot go into another bed because these ERs are so overwhelmed," said Clifton.
"Paramedics are sitting in these hallways for six to eight hours.... That is six to eight hours where paramedics should be providing care to your loved ones."
WATCH | Reopening ERs could address bottlenecks, paramedic association says:
She said paramedics have seen how ER closures have forced patients just outside the city's north perimeter to travel farther for care. Rather than heading to Seven Oaks, they're taken to the Health Sciences Centre or St. Boniface Hospital, she said.
"They deserve to have access to this level of care close to them," said Clifton.
A union that represents paramedics and other allied health workers also supported the NDP plan.
Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals president Jason Linklater said emergency services in rural Manitoba are "broken," and some callers wait more than an hour for ambulances to arrive.
"Paramedics and the communities they serve have been asking for help, but government has ignored the staffing crisis for years," he said in a statement. "We must begin rebuilding rural [emergency medical services] together."
The NDP recently committed to spend $500 million for health care to "plug the hole in the bottom of the boat" by retaining staff, boosting training and recruitment and building up the system at large, Kinew said.
Progressive Conservative Party spokesperson Shannon Martin said the government has "confronted some of the biggest challenges in Manitoba's history" over the past four years and "delivered results for Manitobans."
The party will outline more plans next starting next to "keep our health-care system on the road to recovery," he said in a statement.
Voters head to the polls Oct. 3.
More campaign coverage from CBC Manitoba:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
