Re: Manitoba nursing shortage not surprising, Aug. 11, Westman Journal:

Our government has made improving health care for all Manitobans a priority since being elected in 1999.

Our strategy has focused on recruiting and retaining health professionals while investing aggressively in new and existing health facilities throughout the province.

To date our strategy has resulted in a net gain of 2,532 more nurses and 345 more doctors, including more than 500 nurses and 96 more doctors in rural areas.

Our investments over the past decade stand in stark contrast to the reckless cuts made by the Conservatives the last time they were in power.

In the 1990s the Tories chose to fire 1,000 nurses and drive 500 more from the system. They also chose to cut medical school training and freeze health construction projects across the province. The results of these short-sighted choices were disastrous: a critical nursing shortage, a net loss of 100 doctors, an alarming health infrastructure deficit and a legacy of dangerously long wait times.

After inheriting a system in crisis, our government doubled nurse training seats while increasing medical school seats from 70 spaces a decade ago to 110 spaces today.

We also invested heavily in infrastructure by building and renovating over 100 health facilities across the province, bringing more health services to rural Manitobans. This includes the first MRI machines outside of Winnipeg, more CT scanners in rural communities, new rural dialysis sites including one under construction in Russell, and new cancer treatment sites including one in Deloraine opened in 2008 and the Westman Cancer Centre currently under construction in Brandon.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives continue to demonstrate health care is not their priority. In the lead up to the 2007 election, their leader Hugh McFadyen made the “calculated” decision to actually declare health care was not their priority. In response to the 2008 budget he went as far as saying he would have cut $135 million from the health budget, which is equal to firing about 1,700 nurses. This year, McFadyen demoted his health critic Ms. Driedger from her former position as deputy leader. And recently Tory MLA Blaine Pederson revealed the 2011 Tory election strategy will continue to put health care on the backburner because, as Pederson explains, the Tories “have to pick the issues we’re going to win an election on.”

Our government firmly believes the health of Manitobans is far too important to bump down the list of priorities. Despite difficult economic times, repeating the reckless Conservative mistakes of the past is simply not an option for us.
We have seen what happens when those kinds of choices are made, and how long it takes to reverse the damage. Manitobans know that past actions are the best indicator of future behavior, and we are confident to let our record stand next to that of the Conservatives any day.