The Manitoba Liberal Government says if elected as the next provincial government it will give power back to the local levels of health care.
Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont announced the campaign promise Sunday morning. He said as part of a the party’s new health care system plan, control and decision-making will be granted to community hospitals, clinics and personal health care homes.
“We’re going to restore accountability to the system and work together with doctors, nurses and health care experts to rebuild our health care system,” said Lamont, in a statement.
“The PCs deliberately created a health care system without accountability.”
Lamont said their plan is to ensure Manitobans can get better care closer to home, whether it’s in Winnipeg, rural Manitoba or northern Manitoba.
He said the Liberals will reduce the current four levels of health bureaucracy to two, and merge Regional Health Authorities and Shared Services back into a single, public department.
Lamont said under the Manitoba Liberal plan, patients and communities across Manitoba would get better care, and Seven Oaks, Concordia, and Victoria Hospitals would all be able to choose to keep their ERs open.
“The PCs have put accountants in charge of our health care system. Manitoba Liberals will build a system that puts patients first, restores morale among health workers, and improves the quality of care,” said Lamont.
Manitoba Liberals have already committed to lifting the Pallister freeze on health spending, which has been in place since 2016, and ending the hiring freeze to allow staffing levels to stabilize.
Manitobans will head to the polls on September 10.
