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An Update on Manitoba Liberal activities on Health care since the Forum of November 19th last year

Last year, as our Manitoba Liberal Party Health Critic, I hosted a forum looking at health care and the impact of the Pallister cuts.  In follow up to the forum, our Liberal Caucus has been active in speaking up about the issues and the solutions when it comes to health care in our province.

A list of some of the actions and activities we have undertake includes:

1. Efforts to stand up for our province's nurse practitioners and to ensure they have a strong future in health care in Manitoba.

2. Efforts to improve brain and mental health, and specifically to address the methamphetamine crisis in Manitoba by ensuring we have a drug stabilization unit and follow up transition planning.

3. Efforts to support the efforts of CancerCare Manitoba and to rebut negative comments in the PCs KPMG report with respect to CancerCare Manitoba.

4. Efforts to address problems in the proposed changes to rural Emergency Medical Services, and in particular the proposed removal of the ambulance station in Grandview.  I have met with people in Grandview, travelled twice to Grandview, presented petitions in the Manitoba Legislature with more than 2600 signatures and asked pointed questions to the Minister in the Legislature. 

5. I have raised concerns about problems and poor health care which have resulted from the ending of the IV team at the Health Sciences Centre.  These were highlighted in news reports.  These concerns have continued as we have seen in recent news reports because the situation is still not adequately addressed.

6. I have raised specific problems which have resulted from the closure of the Victoria Hospital Emergency Room. 

7. I have raised concerns about long wait times for back surgery in Manitoba.

8. We have raised concerns about the lack of an adequate approach to preventing suicides in Manitoba.

8. Through all this we have emphasized the need to put patients first, and have continued to emphasize concerns arising from the closure of the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre,  the closure of the Corydon Primary Care Clinic, the Mature Women's Centre at Victoria Hospital and the termination of the lactation consultants at the Health Sciences Centre.

9.  We have also stood up to the Pallister government when they have stood by when changes are made allowing patients to jump a queue to get private health care services in Manitoba, changes which are contrary to the Canada Health Act.

10.  We are at a sad time for health care in our province, with many valuable programs being lost with resulting deterioration in health care delivery because the Pallister PCs have focused on what they can cut rather than on how to improve our health care system.  It will require much continued hard work to make sure Manitobans around our province know what is happening and how we can stand together in support of good health care in Manitoba and against the deleterious changes being made by the Pallister government.

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