FRANCAIS

January 11, 2006

Wait times for pain management will be reduced through a $5.6-million investment over four years to expand pain treatment services, Health Minister Tim Sale announced today.

Currently, the Pain Clinic is housed at the Health Sciences Centre. To reduce the wait for services, a satellite pain clinic will be developed at the Pan Am Clinic to assess and treat less complex cases.

"The expansion will reduce wait times and improve access to pain treatment services, helping patients get assessed more quickly so they can get the care they need," said Sale. "Because less complex cases will be treated at the Pan Am Clinic, staff at Health Sciences Centre will be able to focus on more complex and urgent cases in critical areas including cardiac, cancer and neurosurgery."

Dr. Brian Postl, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said the expansion marks a significant increase in patient visits to the Pain Clinic.

"In 2004-05, there were 3,600 patient visits at the existing Pain Clinic. Once the clinic is fully operational, the new expansion will mean an additional 2,500 patient visits per year, an increase of 70 per cent," said Postl.

The clinic is scheduled to open in February and will expand services over the coming months.

The satellite clinic at the Pan Am Clinic will be operated in conjunction with the clinic at the Health Sciences Centre. As part of the expansion, $297,000 will be invested in the purchase of a fluoroscopy unit, also known as a C-arm.

The C-arm is a diagnostic imaging machine that allows pain clinic physicians to accurately perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in the management of pain. This equipment will be dedicated to pain management services offered at the Pan Am Clinic.

The new clinic will include a number of different care providers working together including anesthesiologists, nurses, psychologists, family physicians and doctors specializing in sports medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Anesthesiologists will provide pain management training to specific family medical practitioners.

Despite national shortages, Manitoba has successfully recruited two new anesthesiologists and two more will begin in June.

"People living with chronic pain are often in great discomfort and not able to live their lives to the fullest," said Sale. "These efforts to reduce wait times for pain management will increase treatment capacity and enhance services, helping Manitobans to better manage chronic pain."

Manitoba has identified pain management as one of four provincial priority areas for wait time reduction. The funding for this expansion comes from the Manitoba Wait Time Reduction Fund.

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