Health Care in Manitoba

There are an ever-increasing number of horror stories arising out of the health care system in Manitoba.

Is our system failing? What has happened in the last 20 or 30 years to drag it down? Can it be salvaged? How? Is this the child of poor governance both politically and by MRHA/WRHA management?

First off, I would think that you need to compare other provincial health care systems to Manitoba's. What are their policies? Are they any different from Manitoba's? Where do they rank in various categories compared to Manitoba's? How can the system be improved? My mother is a nurse, and she has had it with health care in Manitoba, based on her experience working with it on a personal level for almost 25 years. Funding cutbacks have lead to the system you currently have today.

EdWin wrote:First off, I would think that you need to compare other provincial health care systems to Manitoba's. What are their policies? Are they any different from Manitoba's? Where do they rank in various categories compared to Manitoba's? How can the system be improved?

There are many reports out by the Canadian Institute for Health INformation (CIHI) that compare the provinces.

http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=pub_e

Another approach could be to look at the actual Health Departments and see what they publish and what their organizational structures are. Manitoba is small so probably will not have a such coverage as Ontario. Maybe just compare on some things that you feel are important.

GOM - what is MRHA?

I don't think our level of care is any better or worse, it all sucks.

First of all, medicine is not an exact science, and not every highly publicized death is a failing of the system.

That being said (thats a line I stole from Gary Doer), far too much goes into bureaucracy and fat management, but thats what happens with government.

MRHA is the Manitoba health authorities (I'm not sure of all the acronyms). Not sure if there is an umbrella group for those agencies.

grumpy old man wrote:MRHA is the Manitoba health authorities (I'm not sure of all the acronyms). Not sure if there is an umbrella group for those agencies.

I don't think they have much coordination, each of these (I think there are 10 or 11) authorities is responsible for the delivery of health care in a designated region. The population size of these regions ranges from a few hundred (Churchill) to hundreds of thousands (Winnipeg). There is probably a lot of unnecessary administrative bloat in such a large number of agencies for a small province like Manitoba.

Yeah, what he said.

MRHA is "Manitoba Regional Health Authority"

They all report to a National body, but that's mostly for funding purposes.

I've been in medical centres in Canada in 2 provinces, and several in the US (in various States).

They are all similar with their problems...mostly it's bureaucratic mis-management, and VERY poor managerial supervision with no accountability for those in power.

Doctor/Nurse shortages don't help...but instead of adjusting for them to maintain a reasonable service...they just throw blame around and make excuses.

There are entire floors of hospitals in Winnipeg sitting empty...yet one excuse for a recent death at an emergency room was that they couldn't find any beds.

Pharmaceutical companies spend BILLIONS on getting hospitals to use "their" drugs...which should be fine...but they should be forced to donate much-needed equipment and supplies.

Ultimately though...there should be consolidation. Of files, personnel, equipment. There should not be waiting periods of more than an hour in ANY ER waiting room. If a nurse is not qualified to do proper triage, then a doctor should be doing it. And I don't know what the rules are here, but 3rd & 4th year medical students (doctors & nurses) should be REQUIRED to work ERs as part of their curriculum to deal with minor issues, stitches, breaks, etc. to relieve the pressure on the system.

The drug supplier/relationships should be subject to an Inquiry. Nothing will flush the real issues to the surface until we introduce a mix of private and public health services (to a far greater degree than we do). The future of status quo "health care" will bankrupt Canada sooner than later. It is very obviously unsustainable.

IMHO

Health Care in Manitoba is far better than Health Care in most Afrikan, Asian or South American Nations.

As of 2000 the Health Care in Canada, while socialized, is inferior compared to France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Singapore, Spain, Oman, Austria, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Colombia, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Morocco.

Rankings

WHO Press Release

I'd say we've got it pretty good here in Canada.

I'm inclined to agree with you LD, but there is significant room for improvement.

This healthcare system we have needs a major overhaul. I have seen first hand the incompetence of our lovely system, it's not all bad but IMO the bad outweighs the good. Most of you on this forum are aware of why I feel the way I do regarding our system.

Some of us are grateful for the system we have and for very good reasons! Don't like the system here then sell your house and whatever else so you can afford to have a minor surgery in the states. As well some of us have experienced medical care in many other countries and while the facilities may not be perfect nor certain bits of gear up to date, the providers did their best. I am always grateful for that.

LivingDead wrote:IMHO

Health Care in Manitoba is far better than Health Care in most Afrikan, Asian or South American Nations.

As of 2000 the Health Care in Canada, while socialized, is inferior compared to France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Singapore, Spain, Oman, Austria, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Colombia, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Morocco.

Rankings

WHO Press Release

I'd say we've got it pretty good here in Canada.

I agree but there needs to be much improvement. Everyday you read about more cases of wait times in the ER's that have led to deaths.

...and remember, health care is free.

Freeman wrote:...and remember, health care is free.

LMAO. Free for some.

I am grateful for the system we have. It still requires some major changes.

Not sure why I'd have to sell my house and move though if I didn't like the system. But I'm not the sharpest pencil in the box and mayhaps I'm missing something.

I think maybe if I don't like something I try to contribute in some way to improve on it.

Yes, contribute for sure as bitching about it does not improve the situation. I suggested the selling of one's assets to underline the FACT that even minor surgery in the US is costly and that perhaps those bitching about what we have here may wish to remember that FACT with regards to crazy expenses in the health care system south of the border compared to ours.

Why do these discussions always head towards Canadian vs. American health care?


I hear France and Sweden have good systems. We oughtta take a look at
what they are doing. ( they also have a public/private set up too.. )

I do believe some folks forget the high costs in other places so maybe they need a bit of reminding that perhaps as flawed as our system may seem to be it is still better than what exists in other places for a number of reasons.

We ought to take a look at our bureaucratic costs in our system versus others as well. At a distance, it looks like at least in Winnipeg, there's a layer or two. I've had a few discussions with a couple of doctors ( my GP, and a friend of mine ) that get frustrated with having two masters to go through ( gov't and WRHA locally ).

Every system is fraught with bureaucratic costs. I do not see the eradication of that anytime soon in the public or private sectors. Can we say ISO 9000 whatever everybody?

I think part of the problem is the assumption by some that everything is treatable and must be treated/cured immediately upon walking through that ER door. People believe in weird experimental drugs and are astonished when that 'latest' miracle cure featured on the TV dramas aren't immediately administered. People die everyday in our hospitals in this city and in every other city. Simply waiting in an ER is not a 'fault' of the system. When a person is waiting the ER for a seemingly minor, while a more dangerous implication possiable, issue and then a trauma, cardiac or respiratory issue comes in, that person will continue waiting even though their issue may worsen. Its a simple matter of priorities. I can guarantee you all the bays/rooms in the ER aren't all empty while the ER is full. If you want more Dr's and Nurses we had all better open our wallets up. And with all the boomers looming this is going to get WAY WAY worse before it gets better. By 2023 over 25% of Canadians are going to be over 65 years old compared with about 13-16% right now. Gen-x'ers are about to get financially screwed again.

cc

Good post cc.

I believe there is horrible abuse of the system such as those with common colds dropping by the ER for treatment (for example). It was mentioned somewhere that maybe a token charge for treatment would reduce the abuse on the system.

grumpy old man wrote:Good post cc.

I believe there is horrible abuse of the system such as those with common colds dropping by the ER for treatment (for example). It was mentioned somewhere that maybe a token charge for treatment would reduce the abuse on the system.

A user fee for those who run to the dr or ER for every little thing. I am 100% agreement with that!