The Gerrard Report

On Wednesday, May 22, in Question Period, I asked the government to consider helping Niki Dumas get out of province coverage for a procedure which is not available in Manitoba.     Ms Dumas has a condition – intestinal malrotation – for which surgical treatment is only available in Cleveland in the United States.   Another Manitoba with intestinal rotation has already been referred there, has had the surgical treatment and is doing well. 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 malrot...

Thursday May 16th, I brought forward two examples of very long waits for hip and knee surgery in Manitoba.   As Rhonda Grist makes clear, there needs to be a maximum wait time of 6 months for hip or knee replacement surgery.   Waiting longer results in joint difficulties happening in other joints and increasing health problems over the long term.  My questions and the government's responses are below: Hip and Knee Surgery  - Wait Time Recommendations Hon. Jon Gerrard  (River Heights): Madam Speaker, I table a copy of a letter from Rhonda Grist to the Premier. She says that she agrees with the CIHI recommendations that the maximum waiting time for a hip replacement should be six months. As she says, based on her experience of waiting 11 months, more than six months causes harm to the other joints in our body. In her case, she says, after having to use a walker for 10 months before surgery and then another three to four months after su...

Earlier today, I asked in Question Period about the Lifeflight Air Ambulance.   The approach taken by the Pallister Conservatives has created a lot of uncertainty in this critical program.  This has affected the pilots, the doctors and the nurses, and most recently the aircraft maintenance engineers.  I raised my concerns today.   My questions and the government's responses are below.   Lifeflight Air Ambulance -  Public Operation of Service Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights): The government has had many, many months to make up its mind with respect to the RFP to have a non-government operator of the Lifeflight Air Ambulance service.           The result has been a lot of uncertainty and disruption. This has already caused uncertainty and problems with respect to pilots, doctors and nurses, resulting in extra costs.       When will the government restore stabilit...

On Tuesday May 7, I asked in Question Period, about the government's plans with respect to reducing the amount of phosphorous going into Lake Winnipeg.   Phosphorous is the rate limiting nutrient for the formation of algae, and in order to reduce the algal blooms on Lake Winnipeg we need to reduce the phosphorous in Lake Winnipeg.  My questions and the Minister's responses are below. North End Sewage Treatment Plant  - Lake Winnipeg Phosphorus Reduction Hon. Jon Gerrard  (River Heights):   Madam Speaker, soupy-green and potentially toxic algal blooms accumulate each summer on Lake Winnipeg, one of the world's most threatened lakes. They often prevent those who live around or visit the lake from swimming and enjoying the waters.       The largest point source of phosphorus, the root cause of the algal blooms, is from Winnipeg's North End sewage treatment plant. Each day, it puts 600  kilograms of phosphorus in...

Health-Care Reform -  Service Delivery Concerns Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights):  Madam Speaker, last week, a man with meth addiction and psychosis waited 24 hours in an emergency room before getting help.       Last week exposed a precarious situation in food services, with 20 per cent of positions for health inspectors not filled.       Last week, hundreds of nurses told us about their negative experiences with the government cuts, consolidation, chaos and crushing workload.       Today, while eight new graduate midwives are unemployed, 50 per cent of those who want a midwife can't access one, and all the minister can do is call 1-800-Mr. Peachey.       When is the Minister of Health going to actually address the serious problems his government has created? Hon. Cameron  Friesen  (Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living):  I...

 Julie Eyers who has frequent seizures has had to go often to Winnpeg's Emergency Rooms.  The situation is much worse than before the closure of the Victoria Hospital Emergency Room.  I described Julie's experiences and asked the Minister of Health what he was doing to address the problems which have arisen as a result of the closure of the Victoria Hospital Emergency Room.  Emergency Room Services  - Consistency of Care Hon. Jon Gerrard  (River Heights): Madam Speaker, Julie Eyers, daughter of Verna Eyers, has a complex seizure disorder. She was able to receive excellent emergency care from the Victoria hospital at the emergency room until it was closed by this government. In the months since its closure, even with an affiliation letter from the Health Sciences Centre, emergency care has involved what Verna calls hospital tours: setting out for one emergency room, then being redirected to another, and sometimes being redirected to a third before bein...

Monday April 8, I asked, in Question Period, about the CancerCare Manitoba review.  The government's first attempt to put together a review did not work,  I asked about the plans for the revised review and for some certainty that the review would be about improving the quality of cancer prevention and care, and not just about cutting spending.  My questions and the govenrment's responses are below.  CancerCare Manitoba - Government Review Hon. Jon  Gerrard  (River Heights):   Madam Speaker, let me start today by paying tribute to Arnold Frieman, a great entrepreneur and builder who was eulogized this morning by Rabbi Alan Green.       My question today is about CancerCare Manitoba. The government's review process didn't work.        Why didn't it work, and what is the government's next step with respect to CancerCare Manitoba? Hon. Cameron  Friesen  (Minister of Heal...

We have a crisis today in Manitoba with the increase in methamphetamine use leading to increased syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases, increased violence in our streets and in our hospitals, increased meth-related suicides and homicides and increased vandalism.   The meth epidemic started its dramatic increase in the summer of 2017.  It was the equivalent of a two alarm fire. There was an opportunity for the provincial government to act vigorously to prevent its further expansion.  But the Pallister government failed to act.  Today, in response to my question in Question Period they revealed why - they did not believe they could do anything which would have an impact.    They did  not even try to prevent further spread of the epidemic.    It is no wonder we are where we are now in the middle of a full blown crisis - equivalent to a five alarm fire.   My questions and the Minister's response are below:  M...