News Release: Government must commit to reversing health care cuts and privatization in response to surgical and diagnostic backlog

WINNIPEG - Manitoba Health Coalition Provincial Director Thomas Linner called on the provincial government to take the opportunity provided by Wednesday’s surgical/diagnostic backlog task force to fully repudiate the Pallister-era cuts and privatization that caused chaos in the health care system as the global pandemic hit our province.

“Manitobans are waiting longer for the care they need. Our population is ageing and the pressure on hospitals and care providers continues to grow,” said Linner. “Doctors, nurses and front-line health care workers have identified the Pallister-era re-organization of health care as a key ingredient in what has led to the major backlog in surgeries and diagnostic tests. Manitobans deserve a clear commitment that this government will go down a different path.”

Linner noted that the cardiac surgery postponements revealed this past weekend should be a “wake-up call” to the Premier and Minister of Health, and that the announcement on Wednesday must include:

• Firm timelines so that families know how long they and/or their loved ones will be waiting
• Immediate support for front-line health care workers 
• Investment in the public system and an end to the cuts and privatization that created this problem in the first place

“The time is now to invest in real solutions to the backlog that strengthen public health care for Manitoba families and support front-line health care workers,” said Linner. “Over the past five years the government has chosen to pit itself against front-line care providers. That has to change on Wednesday.”

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