November 25, 2004
Better use of rural operating rooms, reducing wait list times and improving patient care are the key priorities for the Manitoba government to invest health accord funding this year, Health Minister Tim Sale announced today.
"Over the last four years, we have rebuilt health services to help improve access to health services for all Manitobans," said Sale. "We have trained and hired more nurses and doctors, reduced wait lists for surgeries and diagnostic services, and invested nearly a billion dollars into health facilities across the province."
"With today’s announcement, not only are we working towards better care sooner, but also bringing it closer to home for many rural Manitobans."
New initiatives to reduce wait lists, improve patient care and bring services closer to home for rural Manitobans include:
new community cancer programs in Deloraine and Pinawa, located in the Assiniboine and North Eastman regional health authorities respectively;
an expansion of the orthopedic surgical program at the Boundary Trails Health Centre in Winkler/Morden;
an expansion of cataract surgeries at Portage District General Hospital and the Pan Am Clinic in Winnipeg; and
an expansion of the surgical program at Selkirk and District General Hospital.
The new cancer care programs will operate in conjunction with CancerCare Manitoba and will focus on prevention, early detection and screening, diagnosis and treatment, and rehabilitation. These services will be delivered by health professionals specially trained in oncology and will include the preparation and administration of chemotherapy. Sale said these additional programs build on the success in reducing wait times for cancer treatment in Manitoba.
"In 1998, wait times for radiation therapy were six to seven weeks. The wait was so long that we had to establish a fund to send patients out of province for treatment," said Sale. "Now, the wait time for radiation therapy has been reduced to one week for most cancers."
Hip replacements at the Boundary Trails Health Centre will double to 60 from 30 procedures this year through an expansion of the orthopedic surgical program. This expansion will also include 35 new knee replacements, a procedure not previously offered by the Boundary Trails Health Centre.
A new cataract surgical program will be located at the Portage District General Hospital that will provide 160 additional cataract surgeries per year. The surgical slates at Selkirk’s hospital will double which it is estimated will support the repatriation of 1,400 surgical cases annually from the Winnipeg region. Surgical cases will include obstetrics, gynecology, general abdominal surgeries and minor orthopedic procedures.
"The Boundary Trails Health Centre is a major referral centre for residents of southern Manitoba", said Sale. "Making better use of this and other rural health facilities frees up operating theatres and beds in Winnipeg and Brandon which then reduces wait times for other procedures."
The health accord agreement provides $78 million to Manitoba this year and $114 million next year. On average, the province will receive $150 million per year over the life of the agreement.
Sale said that while the health accord funding allows for investments in priority areas, it does not address all of the competing demands for health care funding.
The additional federal money amounts to about 2.4 per cent of the total $3.2 billion health budget while health costs are rising at approximately six per cent annually. By the end of the agreement, the federal contribution will only be about 22 per cent of Manitoba’s expenditures, still less than the 24 per cent provided in 1986-87 and less than the 25 per cent recommended by the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, headed by Roy Romanow.
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