Skip to main content

Those Responsible for COVID-19 Fiasco at HSC Must be Disciplined


On Friday April 3, Our Liberal caucus raised concerns about the situation at the Health Sciences Centre which has emerged and which resulted in 100 staff having to be self-isolating and unable to continue providing care in the immediate future.  Clearly there needs to be a very quick assessment of the situation and measures put in place immediately to ensure that the changes and improvements needed are put in place to prevent a recurrence of this situation. 
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Liberals say the exposure of dozens of health care workers at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre to COVID-19 was due to dangerous and misguided policies that allowed people who had tested positive for the illness to keep working, even as staff were being denied personal protective equipment.
Over 70 health care workers [later it became clear there were about 100], from support staff to nurses and doctors, have had to self-isolate and an entire ward has been shut down at Manitoba's biggest hospital.
Manitoba Liberals say whoever is responsible for a policy that allowed people who were known to be infected with COVID-19 to keep working should be disciplined and not allowed to have any influence on policy.
"We do not know who is actually responsible for a policy that has resulted in people getting exposed, infected, and an entire ward of the hospital shut down, because this government has not been open and transparent about what is happening," said Lamont. "Whoever proposed and implemented this policy lacks the medical judgment required to keep Manitobans safe and they should be removed from any decision-making process immediately."
The other issue is that workers have been denied PPE - masks, gowns and other equipment that will help prevent infection.
"If the government is facing a shortage of equipment, they need to open about it and they need to crack down on people who have been hoarding this equipment, while doubling down on investment in Manitoba businesses that can help. To date, the PCs have been reactive and reluctant to act, even as other provinces do. We need action now."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comparison between Manitoba and South Dakota shows dramatic impact of Physical Distancing

Manitoba implemented physical distancing measures in mid-March.  South Dakota has still not made physical distancing mandatory.   The result is a dramatic difference in the incidence of covid-19 viral infections between the two jurisdictions.   This graph shows the number of people with Covid-19 infections from March 27 to April 14.  Manitoba ( red line )  started leveling off about April 4 and has seen only a small increase in Covid-19 infections since then.   South Dakota ( blue line )   has seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 infections since April 4.  Those who are skeptical of the impact of physical distancing in Manitoba should look at this graph! Data are from the Johns Hopkins daily tabulations
18 comments
Read more

Pushing for safe consumption sites and safe supply to reduce overdose deaths

  On Monday June 20th, Thomas Linner of the Manitoba Health Coalition, Arlene Last-Kolb Regional Director of Moms Stop the Harm and Winnipeg City Councillor Sherri Rollins were at the Manitoba Legislature to advocate for better measures to reduce deaths from drug overdoses, most particularly for safe consumption sites and for a safe supply, measures which can reduce overdose deaths.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Dougald Lamont speaks out strongly against the "reprehensible", "legally and morally indefensible" Bill 2

 Early in the morning, just after 3 am, on November 6th, Dougald Lamont spoke at third reading of Bill 2, the Budget Implementation and Statutes Amendment Act.  He spoke strongly against the bill because it attempts to legitimize a historic injustice against children in the care of child and family services.  As  Dougald says this bill is " the betrayal of children, First Nations and the people of this province. " Mr. Dougald  Lamont  (St. Boniface):   These are historic times. This is an  historic budget, for all the wrong reasons.  I was thinking of the Premier's (Mr. Pallister) comments about D-Day today and my relatives who served in combat in the First and Second World War. I had a relative who played for the Blue Bombers and served at D-Day with the Winnipeg Rifles because he was an excellent athlete, he made it quite a long way up the beach.       And had he lived until last year, he might have been one of the veterans the Premier insulted by not showing up at a
1 comment
Read more