Family raising the alarm of inadequate medical transport services in Manitoba

A family in Beausejour, Manitoba is raising the alarm about medical transport services, as their mother, who has cancer, has missed several necessary treatment appointments due to the lack of access to transportation.

Derek Kalma has had to take matters into his own hands after his mother’s cancer treatments kept getting delayed. Due to lack of staffing, and medical transport services, he has had to hire a transport service out of pocket to get his mother to cancer care.

“We’ve had four appointments altogether postponed by the time her treatment started to the time her cancer treatment has been completed,” explained Derek Kalma.

Both Derek and Michelle Kalma reached out to John Mackay, the Owner of Community Paramedics Service, for help, but were ultimately told they could not use his service.

Mackay is a retired paramedic and started a wheelchair transport service when he saw there was a need during COVID.

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• READ MORE: Retired paramedics stepping up to help get patients to appointments in Manitoba’s Interlake region

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“Why is he not being utilized, especially when there are so many people’s appointments cancelled or postponed. The floodgates opened. Once you experienced it, now you are told about multiple people in our area that are experiencing the same thing,” said Derek Kalma.

Since May of 2022, Mackay’s team has completed over 6,000 medical transports from all across southern, Interlake, and western areas of Manitoba. He says they continued to transport patients until the regulators of the Emergency Response and Stretcher Transportation Act said they could not transport patients from hospital to hospital.

“It’s disappointing. It’s frustrating. It makes me angry as having been a past health care worker, to know that this happening to vulnerable people who don’t have advocates,” said Michelle Kelma.

Mackay and his team continue to make several medical transports every single day but are doing so privately.

“It was the region that asked me to do this. Now that they’ve cut back, I’m still going to do whatever I can,” explained MacKay. “The toll is mounting. People are not making their appointments and it’s hurting families, and it’s hurting caregivers. They can’t talk to you from hospitals, but they see what’s happening every day.”

Shared Health confirmed Mackay’s company is not a contracted service provider and would not confirm whether or not there has been an increase in appointment cancellations due to a lack of medical transport options in rural Manitoba.

But Mackay says patients are continuing to miss their appointments through no fault of their own.

“I think it is fair to say that ultimately, the government is responsible for this, and if the government doesn’t revisit this, it will only get worse, and people will continue not to get their therapy and it affects longevity.”

Both Michelle and Derek just want to give their mother the best care possible.

“It shouldn’t matter how they get there. It should be about being prompt and getting them to really important appointments, like cancer care or CTs. I’m frustrated and we pride ourselves on our health care system here and to hear that this is what is happening to experience this ourselves, it’s unacceptable.”