Jim's Member Statements - 2008
Jim Rondeau on Health Care
I am very pleased to put a few words on this issue.
I'm also appreciative that I am following both the leader of the third party and a Conservative in putting in a few words here, because it would be nice to talk about what the issue is. When we're talking about investments, I look at where 80 percent of the money goes, to doctors, nurses, technicians, health-care staff. And when you're talking about improving the system, where you have to improve the system is have appropriate human resources, because no matter what you do, you need to have the appropriate people there.
I find it passing strange that we had a member of the Conservative party talking about investments in health care when they cut the programs to train doctors, cut the nurses' programs, got rid of the LPN programs. In fact, when the member opposite is talking about lab techs and technicians, I find it passing strange that, around 1995, they removed the whole program, and then, lo and behold, seven or eight years later, they're shocked that there's no staff there.
I know that this is tough to understand, but basically, if you wipe out the program, you cut the program numbers down; you cut the graduates down; you have less people graduating. So if you cut the program completely from Red River College, you don't have people graduating. I know the Member for Turtle Mountain (Mr. Cullen) has difficulty with that, but the program was cut and I'm proud that we reinstated it.
I'm also pleased that we are a government that believes in action, and I know the Liberal leader, leader of the third party, may be full of sound and fury, but the last part of that quote is, signifying nothing.
I think what we need to do is look at what we've done, and I know that the Conservative beliefs were to privatize. I know that the Conservative beliefs are to make sure that we don't make investments in the public health-care system, but I look at some of the investments. I look at the new hospitals. I look at CancerCare Manitoba. I look at the new emergency rooms. I look at where we're making legitimate investments.
Just last week, we went to a simulator announcement where the Province invested with students, with the University of Manitoba, to make a simulator to be state-of-the-art instruction, so that they can actually work with a simulator to work to be trained so that you can have more practice. You can practise procedures by yourself. You can practise with a team to try and learn. And it's a new way of doing things, and I'm pleased to say that I was at the announcement with the Minister of Health (Ms. Oswald) to take a leadership role.
When we start talking about vision of health care, we believe that we need timely access to health care. We believe we need staff there. We believe there should be public institutions that provide service.
Now, I know that Tories believe in a user-pay, credit card machine, and I use a few quotes here. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. McFadyen) said in the Brandon Sun on April 28, 2006, that he would give people the right to purchase private services.
I know that the members opposite believe in a case where home care was privatized. I understand that. I know they believe that the priority should go to the people who have the biggest wallet, but we believe it should be a prioritized on the need for health care. I know that the Member for Tuxedo (Mrs. Stefanson) said, in Hansard, November 22, 2005: ". . . patients should be allowed to purchase . . . ." as she was talking about MRI services.
The other thing that was interesting is the leader of the third party, the member who spoke earlier, went along with the Tories. He voted against the ban on private hospitals. That means a member who believed in the national Health Act, who believes in, he says, a public service, actually voted against public processes of health care. They're actually supporting the privatization of health care which goes against the national Health Act, which I'm shocked.
I believe we should have a good system. Mr. Speaker, the average person doesn't understand that palliative care that's provided at home is not supported by the national government. We provide support for the palliative care and this is a very humane thing; it's a very good thing, and I'm proud that we're a government that expanded that.
I look at Pharmacare. People often don't understand that the Pharmacare program is generally not cost-shared with the federal government. It's a provincial program and CIHI and other organizations have said that we have the best Pharmacare program in the country. I'm pleased at that. It's extensive, it's not just on palliative care, it's on all sorts of drugs and we have a good, good Pharmacare program, that isn't cost-shared with the federal government.
Look at home care. One of the things I am very proud of in this government is that we have a public home care system. I know that I've had some people move into my constituency from Alberta because they don't have that system. Mr. Speaker, I know when people are getting older and they need some support, the home care system in Manitoba is based on need, not the size of your wallet. What's nice about it is people that are getting older can get support in their homes, get support while they're living and aging appropriately. I like that. I believe that's an important component.
I know the Conservative Party and the members opposite believe in privatizing these services and not having them available to the people who need them but according to your size of your wallet. I'm surprised at that because I really believe that the members opposite, intellectually, believe that everyone should have access. It's strange to me that philosophically their parties are opposed to having the provision of services based on need rather than the size of your wallet.
Then I look at supported housing. I'm pleased that our government is continuing to expand support of housing. I think that it's very, very important because it does affect quality of life.
I looked at just one thing in my own constituency; it's called Friends Housing. It's a residence for people with schizophrenia and mental health issues. It's a wonderful place to be. It's wonderfully run. It's got great people in it, and I think that's where housing makes a difference on your health outcomes and I'm really pleased that were still supporting supported housing issues.
But then we start talking about how to invest. We invest in new facilities. I look at the Conservative record which closed Misericordia. One of the reasons why I got involved in politics is because they actually had closed Grace Hospital emergency. I find it passing strange in this last election because the Conservative candidate actually ran against me about a threat to close Grace Hospital emergency. Actually, there was no threat in 1998-1999. They actually had closed the emergency on weekends and evenings.
Our government's committed to keeping emergency services open so that if someone has a heart attack or major issues, they get into the emergency and are seen in front of the line. I think that's very, very important. I think that it was sad that they closed Misericordia Hospital and other health-care things.
Mr. Speaker, I think it's important to talk about the differences between us and them. We have now about 3,115 nurses enrolled in training. That's very, very important because in 1999 it was 1,123; that's wonderful. I think that's important because the human resources issue is a major issue. I think when you talk about looking at how many nurses we have, we have 1,789 more nurses now than in 1999. That becomes important because when you come and you need service, you need people there.
When you're looking at doctors, I think what you have to do is look at the amount of doctors we have. Basically, we've promised to hire 100 more doctors and I'm proud to say that we have 235 doctors more now than in 1999.
Is it enough? No. I think what we have to do is continue to train more doctors, continue to train more nurses, continue to train more technicians. That's why we've expanded those services because when you come to a hospital, your service depends on the people, the trained people, that can deal with your issue.
I know that we still have work to do, but I look at the CIHI, which is a third-party group that, in February 2008, reported that wait times, Manitoba is a leader on wait-time reductions in certain areas. Have we got it perfect? No, but what we've done is we've worked on life-and-death areas so that CancerCare
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