Out-of-Country Health-Care Case - Manitoba Health Coverage Request
Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, in the gallery
today, along with many supporters, is Niki Dumas. She has had difficulty since
birth with the digestion of foods and abdominal pain. Finally, about three
years ago she was diagnosed as having intestinal malrotation, a condition
in which the intestine is rotated within the abdomen in the opposite direction
from normal. She needs a surgical procedure to connect the malrotation, a
procedure which is only available in Cleveland, Ohio.
Will the Minister of Health provide the
support for Niki Dumas to get the surgery she needs?
Hon. Rochelle Squires (Acting Minister of
Health, Seniors and Active Living): While our government certainly does
sympathize with the health challenges that Ms. Dumas speaks, I am very
cognizant of privacy and so I do not want to be talking about very specifics in
a public manner. But I
can assure the member and assure the Legislature that health officials have
reached out to obtain the necessary information regarding Ms. Dumas's
situation and will be following the process diligently.
Madam Speaker: The honourable member for River
Heights, on a supplementary question.
Mr. Gerrard: Because
of her condition, Niki Dumas has spent much of the last three years in hospital
in Brandon or in the Health Sciences Centre. For the last three years she's
been on tube feeding because she can't take food by mouth. Helping Niki Dumas to receive the surgery she needs will save a lot of pain and
discomfort and may save her life. It will also save a lot of health-care
dollars because the hospital care and tube feeding are expensive.
I ask
again: Will the Minister of Health agree
that Niki should have the operation she needs and that it should be supported
by Manitoba Health?
Ms. Squires: Once
again, I can assure the member that once the required information has been
received by the department they can put the necessary processes into place to
consider her request. But
if this member would like to be a full partner in health care and
providing health care for his constituent in the gallery and all Manitobans,
I suggest he pick up the phone and call his federal cousins to restore the
funding arrangement that they once had when they were a 25 per cent
funding partner in health care. That's down to 18 per cent. I'd suggest
that he talk to his federal counterparts about that.
Madam Speaker: The
honourable member for River Heights, on a final supplementary.
Mr. Gerrard: Madam
Speaker, along her journey with her condition, Niki Dumas found out about the
operation in Cleveland which has the potential to dramatically improve her
life. She mentioned this to the family of another Manitoban with intestinal
malrotation. He was able to be supported by Manitoba Health to go to Cleveland
to get the operation. He has now received the operation and is doing well. Niki
would like to be treated equally with him and to be supported to go to
Cleveland, Ohio, to get the operation she needs. In the last five days she has
come from Carberry to get help.
Will the minister meet with Niki Dumas
and her family right after question period?
Ms. Squires: Our government is always willing to
meet with Manitobans and talk to Manitobans about their specific health
challenges. Our
government is very committed to building a better health care system. That is
why we invested $414 million more this year than the NDP ever did. That is why
we hired sixty–78, pardon me, new doctors this year, which is the second
highest number of doctors recruited in the province of Manitoba in a decade. We're
bringing in more doctors than the NDP ever did. Wait times are decreasing more
than ever before. We are getting better health care sooner, and our government
is committed to continuing to work on behalf of all Manitobans to build a
better health-care system.
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