The Gerrard Report

Community involvement in health care decisions is fundamental to putting patients first and to improving our health care system. In the wake of many recent poorly considered Pallister government health care decisions which have not had community input, it is clear that we need a process which puts community input into decisions made by our provincial government and regional health authorities.  Below are my comments from a press conference earlier today in front of the Victoria Hospital.  "We are here today in front of the Victoria Hospital, the location of the Mature Women’s Centre which is being closed by the Pallister government.   Closing the Mature Women’s Centre is a bad decision.  It has an incredible health care team – doctors, nurses, a pharmacist, a dietitian and a kinesthesiologist – which does excellent work and uses approaches which keep women healthier and are at lower cost than traditional approaches.  It is one example of recent arbitrary and indiscriminate Pa

[ During the last few days, Naomi and I have visited several Folkorama pavilions.  With Jim Carr at the Spirit of Ukraine Pavilion Israel Pavilion A visit by the Folklorama Llama to the Greek Pavilion  The Mexican Pavilion

Tuesday evening, August 15, I was in Grandview where about 500 people packed the community hall to express concerns about the Pallister government's plans to close their ambulance station.  The meeting was organized by Grandview's three physicians who see the ambulance station in Grandview as critical to the future health care for the region.  We were told that the decision to close the Grandview ambulance station was based on a computer model from Nova Scotia which does not adequately consider the realities of the situation in Grandview.  What concerned me most was that the Conservative's decision was made without any community input and community consultations.  In my view community input is essential in order to have the best possible health care system.  I listened to the case made by Grandview doctors Dr. Jacobi Elliot and Dr. Jim Rae, and by many community citizens.  The question was asked "Why are we being moved from a good system to a substandard service?&qu

Yesterday, in Gimli, I joined many others to pay tribute to the efforts of Robert T. Kristjanson and the many years he has put in helping save Lake Winnipeg.   Robert was one of the first to point out the problem with algae on Lake Winnipeg, and he has been relentless in his efforts to ensure Lake Winnipeg and its fishery will have a healthy future.   In the photo above, Robert Kristjanson is together with Bill Barlow and Al Kristofferson.   The three became known as the three amigos as they travelled around Manitoba and into the northern United States to raise awareness about the plight of Lake Winnipeg.   I should add, that I had many positive comments in Gimli about my recent call for ending the dumping of raw sewage into the Assiniboine and Red Rivers by the City of Winnipeg.

Today, beside the Assiniboine River, I called for action from Brian Pallister and his government to address the raw sewage going into our Red and Assiniboine Rivers.  Winnipeg has a proportion of the sewage going into pipes which combine the removal of sewage with the drainage of rainwater,  The result is that when it rains there is an overflow of sewage into our rivers.  This is not a good situation.   In December 2015, the City of Winnipeg presented a master plan to the province in which several options were spelled out for addressing this problem.  These options, costing between $830 million and $4 billion vary from a partial to a full separation of sewage and rainwater.  The City is now waiting for a letter from the Province as to which option the Province will mandate.    However, in the 16 months since the election of the Pallister government no such letter has been sent.  Today I called on the Pallister government to end the delaying and to get to work and send the le

It was an honour to participate in the Torch of Dignity relay on Monday this week.  This event is organized by Manitobans for Human Rights, an organization which promotes human rights for all Manitobans 

Last evening, Naomi and I were fortunate to go to Folklorama.  India Pavilion Africa Pavilion Caribbean Pavilion Tamil Pavilion

Friday evening August 5th, Naomi and I attended the dinner to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Jamaican Independence in 1962.  

Brain Pallister and the Conservative government have announced their plans to close the Corydon Primary Care Clinic.    This is a community based clinic which serves many people who are elderly, or are vulnerable and have complex needs.   The clinic which looks after about 5,000 patients, has a particular focus on the prevention and treatment of diabetes.   The clinic does screening for diabetes, treatment of diabetes and offers group diabetes management classes.  These classes are open to all Winnipeg residents with type 2 diabetes and their families.  This effort is of particular importance today as there has been a dramatic increase in diabetes from about 50,000 people in Manitoba two decades ago to more than 100,000 people with diabetes in Manitoba today. The clinic is well situated close to the many people who live in nearby high rise apartments in this densely populated area.   Its focus is on those who live in the communities of Fort Rouge, Fort Garry Riverview and River Hei

With Bonnie Bricker Reid Bricker Reid's sculpture is graceful, and in some cases quite complex, as with the "Turning Point" sculpture below. Last night, at the Reid Bricker Memorial Art Show, it was a time to remember Reid and to admire his skill as a sculptor and to talk about and devote ourselves to improving the brain and mental health care system in Manitoba so that tragedies, like Reid's death, do not happen in the future.

Yesterday was an exciting evening in Altona with the opening of a show at the Gallery in the Park in which Naomi was one of the five featured artists.   Above are some photos from the opening.