Two in three allied health-care workers seriously considered leaving in the past year: survey

(File Image)

According to new data, two in three allied health professionals working in Manitoba's public health-care system have seriously considered leaving their jobs in the past year.

The findings were collected in a member survey by the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals (MAHCP) in early May.

MAHCP President Jason Linklater says the results are alarming and show systemic challenges persist in the province's health-care system.

"Our members have been handling growing workloads with dwindling staffing and resources for years, and it is unfortunately not surprising that so many are considering leaving if they don’t get additional resources soon. Manitoba is at risk of losing more specialized health-care professionals.”

Other key takeaways – 90 per cent say their workload has greatly increased or somewhat increased compared to five years ago, half say employee morale is 'much worse', and a further 29 per cent say it is 'somewhat worse' than five years ago.

Meanwhile, 60 percent say the quality of service is 'somewhat worse' or 'much worse' than five years ago.

Respondents considering leaving their jobs identified increased workload, unfilled vacancies, and not feeling valued as the top issues facing their workplaces.

"Once they’re gone, specialized health-care professionals are not easy to replace,” said Linklater. “The frontline is saying loud and clear that immediate action is needed to retain them," Linklater said.

In a statement to CTV News Winnipeg, Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara says retention of health-care workers is one of the most important issues when it comes to stabilizing the health-care system.

Asagwara says since being elected, the Kinew government has invested in more training seats for allied health professionals, improved safety in health-care settings, and hired 1,000 new health-care workers to support the system overall.

"Most importantly, we know that changing the culture within health care is going to be difficult and take time, but we are committed to ensuring anyone working within the health-care system feels valued and heard," they said in an emailed statement.