Chemo unit expansion in limbo

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This article was published 02/03/2020 (2224 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After years of fundraising and meetings with both the province and Prairie Mountain Health, Russell is still no closer to seeing a much-needed expansion of the chemotherapy unit at Russell Health Centre.

“It is extremely frustrating and difficult to keep generating hope and support from the communities,” said Gloria Tibbatts, chairwoman of the Expanding Community Cancer Care Committee. “But the committee and the public have not given up.”

Formed in September 2014, the committee is comprised of 30 members from the 14 different communities that use the chemotherapy unit at the Russell Health Centre, including Angusville, Beulah, Binscarth, Birtle, Foxwarren, Inglis, Langenburg, Roblin, Rossburn, Russell, St. Lazare, Silverton, Solsgirth and Waywayseecappo First Nation.

“The financial support (from the communities) has been there. It has increased over the last two years,” Tibbatts said. “The level of interest and concern from the public has also increased, partly due to no progress on the project and no communication from the powers to be.”

In a public information meeting last Tuesday in Russell, Tibbatts outlined the committee’s efforts to expand and improve the chemotherapy unit at Russell Health Centre.

Tibbatts told the group the approximately 510-square-foot chemo unit has had more than 1,500 visits a year since 2015.

There is no wheelchair-accessible washroom, the waiting room is in the hallway, there is limited privacy and the area where treatments are administered is crowded, she said. As well, the doctors’ examination and office area is where the only bathroom is located.

The unit, which is open five days a week, has two doctors, two nurses and a part-time ward clerk.

The committee held its first meeting with Prairie Mountain Health in 2016, but was told that while a new build was not possible, a renovation of the unit could be done at a cost of between $300,000 and $650,000 with no assistance form the regional health authority.

A 1,735-square-foot renovation was approved by PMH and Manitoba Health in May 2017, Tibbatts told the meeting, enlarging the existing unit from 510 square feet to 1,401 square feet as well as 334 square feet for the occupational and physiotherapy room, which would have to be moved.

A feasibility study on the project that was completed in January 2018 pegged the cost of renovation at $1.1 million. However, there would be no private entrance, no bathroom for visitors or staff and little room for storage and a waiting room.

After deciding that kind of money would be better spent on a new build, the committee received verbal approval by then-health minister Calvin Goertzen, but was told it would still have to go through Prairie Mountain Health and the proper channels.

PMH was asked on July 9, 2018, to send the application to Manitoba Health for approval of an approximate 2,000-square-foot building to be attached via a vestibule to the southwest wing of the Russell Health Centre.

In February 2019, new Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen, accompanied by MLA Greg Nesbitt, visited the Russell Health Centre for a tour of the chemo unit. Tibbatts said the committee was informed by Friesen he would give PMH and the committee an answer once a rural health study was completed in June.

Still awaiting an response from the Provincial Clinical and Preventative Services Planning Committee of Manitoba Health, the committee met with new Swan River MLA Rick Wowchuk in November 2019 to inform him of the project and to tour the unit, Tibbatts told the gathering.

On Jan. 14, the committee was invited by Wowchuk to attend a meeting with Finance Minister Scott Fielding in Swan River.

The committee, which has more than $1.3 million in its account, is still waiting for Manitoba Health to give PMH the green light to proceed with the project. It has a goal of reaching $3 million through fundraising in the communities.

Late last year, the provincial government rolled out its Clinical and Preventive Services Plan, touted as a new model for health care, focusing on care away from Winnipeg and closer to local communities. The five-year road map, bolstered by a $250-million investment from the province, involved consultations with nearly 300 clinical leaders.

In an emailed statement to the Sun on Friday, Debbie Poole, Prairie Mountain Health’s vice-president of acute and long-term care, said the plan “will ensure Manitobans throughout the province receive a more consistent level of care that is closer to home. We are now moving to detailed planning, working with local communities to make decisions about investments and shifts in care that will enable improvements across the province.

“Prairie Mountain Health applauds the community’s commitment to improving cancer services in Russell for patients throughout the area,” Poole said. “Prairie Mountain Health, Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living and Shared Health will continue to work with the proponents of the Expanding Community Cancer Care initiative.

“Conversations about the proposal are ongoing and will be considered as the province’s clinical and preventive services plan is implemented.” Tibbatts, however, said there has not been any more dialogue with the province or Prairie Mountain Health.

“We’re still on hold,” she said. “We can’t do anything until we hear. Absolutely nothing, so we’re just going to continue raising money and fundraise. That’s what we’re going to do.”

» brobertson@brandonsun.com