Healthcare Shake-up in Winnipeg

In Manitoba, a major healthcare shake-up was announced Friday in Winnipeg, a city of 664k (2011 census). Three of the six ERs and an urgent care centre (UCC) are to be closed; two of these ERs are to be replaced with 24/7 UCCs.

While at first glance the announcement appears similar to the proposal for Windsor-Essex, there are in fact some significant differences:
  • The two ERs to be converted to UCCs are on the outskirts of the city, while two of the three hospitals involved are in the core and will be expanded. This is the exact opposite of the W-E proposal, which removes both hospitals from the core, replacing them with a UCC, even though the core is home to a greater share of the region's seniors, people with disabilities, those living in poverty and others who are less likely to own a car.

According to Dr. Alan Drummond, an ER physician from Perth ON, who is also the co-chair of public affairs for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, the solution to our healthcare problems isn't converting ERs into UCCs. He says any approach must include increases in hospital bed capacity and personal care homes instead, neither of which are features of our own mega-hospital proposal.

If you’re not familiar with Winnipeg, the distance from the core to the outskirts is approximately 10km.
 
It’s worth following this story as it develops in Winnipeg. At this stage it’s unknown whether the reorganization will cost or save health care dollars because a cost-benefit analysis has not been done, and it cannot be guaranteed that there won’t be job losses.