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As emergency rooms are overwhelmed, surgery wait times continue to lengthen, and under-resourced childrens’ hospitals face surges related to viral infections like COVID, the provincial and territorial governments have accepted the federal government’s new health care funding deal.
But there’s more than meets the eye with this deal.
Health, health care system, pharmacare
Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press July 15, 2023
Five years after public health insurance was rescinded from international students in Manitoba, and in the aftermath of the most volatile years of the COVID-19 pandemic, this report brings together testimonials shared by international students across a variety of venues to highlight the ongoing challenges they face with respect to healthcare access and the active ways inwhich students themselves have engaged in advocacy around this issue.
Manitoba's long-term care and home care systems were some of the hardest hit sectors of healthcare when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020. Over seven hundred residents of long-term care died of COVID-19 related illness while hundreds of clients who rely on home care experienced care cancellations. Through a survey of 1027 unionized workers in Manitoba's continuing care system (long-term care and home care) we investigate the conditions of work in the sector three years on from the outbreak of COVID-19.
COVID-19’s impact on the home care sector has been devastating. Across Canada, it is well documented that workers and older people receiving care have experienced gruelling and isolating working and living conditions respectively. In Manitoba, most home care workers are im/migrants. While there is some emerging research on the experiences of im/migrant home care workers in Manitoba, there is a dearth of public knowledge about their experiences working and living in the province.
Manitoba health care is at a crossroads. From emergency care to home care, the entire system is at a breaking point caused by Pallister-era decisions to close emergency rooms and privatize services. Instead of stepping up to fix these problems, Premier Stefanson has carried on the same agenda of cuts and privatization.
Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press May 1, 2023
Although recent media coverage of our healthcare and education problems here in Manitoba has been very good and quite wide-ranging, one particularly important piece of the puzzle has been consistently missing. That missing piece is the social determinants of health.
There is strong scientific evidence, going back decades and covering most countries in the world, that socio-economic factors play a particularly important role in determining people’s health and level of educational attainment.
For years, Manitoba’s network of community organizations and public health and harm reduction experts have made the case for the introduction of supervised consumption sites in Manitoba. There are evidence-based models of care that will work for Manitoba.
The Convoy that took over Ottawa for a month last year just met outside Winnipeg this past weekend. While the right to protest is an essential part of our democracy, it is important to look critically at this movement that has harboured white supremacist, libertarian and in some cases even fascist beliefs. These ideas have originated most recently in the USA, but have a long and odious history elsewhere in the world.
Manitoba’s the Disability Support Act establishes a framework for providing financial assistance outside the Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) system to persons with prolonged and severe disabilities. This fall, the government is considering draft regulations for the new program.