Skip to main content

The Emergency Medical Services station in Grandview must be saved

In Question Period November 22,  I presented a petition of 1,000 signatures of people urging the government to continue and to expand the Emergency Medical Services station in Grandview. I presented additional petitions of 500 signatures each on November 23 and 24th.   There are many reasons why it would be wrong to close the Grandview ambulance and emergency medical services station   There is tremendous community support for keeping it open.  I called on the government to keep the Grandview EMS station open and to keep their promise not to cut front-line services.  You can see the Minister of Health's response in the video by clicking on this link - video on Grandview EMS services  The written text from Hansard is at the bottom of this post. 

November 25th, Naomi and I were in Grandview to meet with people in the community and to enjoy a community dinner together.  We were pleased to meet so many community members and to see the close working relationship between the community of Grandview, with their Mayor Lyle Morran and the community of Tootinaowazibeeng First Nation with their Chief Barry McKay.  It is one of the reasons why there should be an EMS station in Grandview.   Thank you to all the people in both communities for a great evening together.  I will continue working on your behalf at the Manitoba Legislature until we get the EMS in Grandview.  
Community Dinner in Grandview last night
Dr. Jim Rae speaking passionately about the importance of having the EMS station in Grandview.  

 FROM HANSARD:
Rural ER Services - Government Intention
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Health care is important to Manitobans.
      High-functioning emergency services in rural Manitoba face closure because the PCs are following a failed NDP strategy.
      I table today 1,000 signatures on a petition asking for the government to reverse its decision to close emergency medical services in Grandview. Rossburn and many other communities are also affected. These decisions are based on bad data, old data, and break the government's promise to spare front‑line services.
      Will the Premier (Mr. Pallister) keep his promise, or will he betray rural Manitobans by taking away critical health services from communities like Grandview and Rossburn?

Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living): Madam Speaker, certainly we know that the EMS system throughout Manitoba, but particularly in rural Manitoba, is a lifeline for those who live in rural Manitoba. The recommendations of the Toews report, which was commissioned by the NDP government, set out a standard that there should be service within 30 minutes from those who are getting called.
      We, of course, would like it to be even better than that, Madam Speaker, but that requires full‑time paramedics. It's one of the reasons why we were pleased to announce 29 new full-time paramedics. That was also again discussed yesterday in the Throne Speech, things that the member opposite voted against.
      You need paramedics to get that service. We're investing in paramedics, we're hiring paramedics, and we're employing paramedics for exactly that reason, Madam Speaker.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dougald Lamont speaks at Meth Forum last night to present positive ideas to address the epidemic, while exposing the lack of action by the Pallister Conservatives

Last night at the Notre Dame Recreation Centre in St. Boniface, at an Election Forum on the Meth Crisis in Manitoba, Dougald Lamont spoke eloquently about the severity of the meth epidemic and described the Liberal plan to address it.  The Liberal Plan will make sure that there is a single province-wide phone number for people, or friends of people, who need help dealing with meth to call (as there is in Alberta) and that there will be rapid access to a seamless series of steps - stabilization, detoxification, treatment, extended supportive housing etc so that people with meth addiction can be helped well and effectively and so that they can rebuild their lives.  The Liberal meth plan will be helped by our approach to mental health (putting psychological therapies under medicare), and to poverty (providing better support).  It will also be helped by our vigorous efforts to help young people understand the problems with meth in our education system and to provide alternative positive
3 comments
Read more

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

  Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020   (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: ·          We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. ·            We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted.  ·          We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to   improve ventilation and humidity long before the PCs acted. Helped hundreds of individuals with issues during the pandemic including those on social assistance
Post a Comment
Read more

The Indigenous Science Conference in Winnipeg June 14-16

  June 14 to 16, I spent three days at the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference.  It was very worthwhile.   Speaker after speaker talked of the benefits of using both western or mainstream science and Indigenous science.  There is much we can learn from both approaches.   With me above is Myrle Ballard, one of the principal organizers of the conference.  Myrle Ballard, from Lake St. Martin in Manitoba, worked closely with Roger Dube a professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and many others to make this conference, the first of its kind, a success.  As Roger Dube, Mohawk and Abenaki, a physicist, commented "My feeling is that the fusion of traditional ecological knowledge and Western science methodology should rapidly lead the researchers to much more holistic solutions to problems."   Dr. Myrle Ballard was the first person from her community to get a PhD.  She is currently a professor at the University of Manitoba and the Director of Indigenous Science
Post a Comment
Read more