Lack of doctors, EMS becoming critical for northern Manitoba communities

Emergency Department closures in rural and northern Manitoba continue to worsen with residents in the Interlake-Eastern area, feeling the effects.

Ongoing staffing shortages are making access to basic health care difficult for Manitobans, with residents in Teulon, at times being forced to travel between 30-45 minutes for a doctor.

“Our nearest hospital would be Stonewall, but it isn’t always open. They would then divert to Selkirk, which is usually open, but after that, I’m not sure where they would go,” said Anna Pazdzierski, Mayor of Teulon.

Pazdzierski says for a town of over 1,200 people to not have a doctor available to the community is frustrating.

“This is kind of what the future is going to look like. Our emergency has been suspended since 2016. For rural communities, it’s a huge issue,” she explained. “There just isn’t enough staff. There isn’t enough nursing staff. There isn’t enough EMS.”

About 60 kilometres north in Arborg, Manitoba, the situation isn’t much better.

Between July 16 and August 15, residents there only had access to an emergency department doctor for seven days. The nearest health facility is in Gimli, about a 30-minute drive.

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“That’s certainly concerning that it is the nearest medical facility,” said Peter Dueck, Mayor of Arborg.

Dueck says they are taking matters into their own hands. The community is hosting a family from Ukraine, where both the husband and wife are doctors. He says he is hoping they can become the town doctors going forward.

“It’s not an overnight solution, but our community is excited to offer a safe community to this doctor family and we are hoping it will become a long-term relationship.”

There are 68 ERs in rural and northern Manitoba, as of last week, only 26 are open 24/7, 20 are fully closed and the remaining 22 have frequent closures or reduced operating hours.

Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Candance Bradshaw says there are more ERs closed this summer than ever before. “This truly is a provincial issue, because more closed ERs in rural areas can result in backup in Winnipeg, where ERs already have record wait times.”

CityNews reached out to the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority for comment but has not heard back at this time.

“It’s certainly getting more difficult to imagine yourself as a rural or northern Manitoban,” explained Bob Moroz, President, Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals.

Moroz says allied health professionals in rural and northern Manitoba are completely stretched thin.

“When we start piling more and more patient loads into smaller facilities down the road, whichever one is open, it doesn’t take a math major to figure out that it will have a significant impact on the ability of that facility that is open to handle that increased load.”

Pazdzierski adds it’s important for people not to forget about rural Manitoba because she says they are important too.

“Highly trained EMS is important, available ambulances are important, and people need health-care.”