Provincial budget includes healthcare expansion and funding for frontlines, but stakeholders want more

The Province’s health-care system was a major proponent of the 2025 budget, committing to several projects including building a new ER at the Victoria Hospital and a separate one in Eriksdale, and a new healthcare centre in downtown Winnipeg.

The province also pledged $770 million in new funding to frontline healthcare staff, but while stakeholders are encouraged, they want more.

“In the budget the retention the recruitment, it was basically paying salaries. For contracts that have already been negotiated. There was nothing further on retaining or recruiting nurses into the system, and so my concern is that when we build new beds, we have to have staff to be able to staff those beds,” said Darlene Jackson, with the Manitoba Nurses Union.

“What I was hoping for is more done on the retention of nurses in the system, and recruitment.”

Dr. Nichelle Desilets, the president-elect for Doctors Manitoba adds, “We saw a lot of investments in infrastructure, services, facilities, but we know that a bed doesn’t care for a patient, a health care provider does so while we’re glad to see those investments we do need the healthcare providers and the recruitment of those healthcare providers to go along with it.”

Also announced was $40 million, which will go to frontline staff to take care of Manitoba seniors, including three new care homes in Transcona, Lac du Bonnet, and Arborg.

“I think it’s a start, if is the Stefanson funding money, we’ve been waiting a long time for that, the pc government did start that and it did not continue under the NDP government so hopefully, that’s what this means,” said Laurie Cerqueti, the CEO of Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre Personal Care Home.