Carberry doctor, Prairie Innovation Centre among priorities set out in mandate letters

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This article was published 01/11/2023 (911 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The ministerial mandate letters for Manitoba’s new provincial government contained good news for the Town of Carberry and Assiniboine Community College.

Contained in Premier Wab Kinew’s mandate letter for Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara was the line: “Bring a doctor to Carberry to staff the emergency department and provide health care close to home for families in the surrounding area.”

The letters for Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn and Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable request that the pair work together “to build a Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture at Assiniboine Community College.”

Reached by phone Tuesday morning, Carberry Mayor Ray Muirhead said he hadn’t seen the letter yet but the directive was welcome for a community that has been without an active emergency room since the end of September.

He said the town’s previous doctor left for Winnipeg at the beginning of September, with some residents now choosing to drive to the provincial capital to keep seeing him.

That was followed by a doctor working temporarily until the end of that month, but since then, there have only been two nurse practitioners operating in the community for four days a week.

According to Muirhead, Carberry and Prairie Mountain Health have been looking for a new doctor but have yet to find a candidate. It’s gotten to the point where the town is preparing to enlist the services of a physician recruitment service.

In an email, Prairie Mountain Health CEO Brian Schoonbaert confirmed that the health region is assisting Carberry in the town’s discussions with an international recruitment firm.

“PMH is also prioritizing Carberry as a community for new physician recruits through the provincial International Medical Graduate (IMG) process,” Schoonbaert wrote.

“Emergency Department (ED) services at Carberry Health Centre remain temporarily suspended until the necessary physician complement can be found to reinstate shared Emergency Department coverage with Glenboro Health Centre. For up-to-date Emergency Department schedules within the Region, visit the PMH website. You can also call your local health centre to confirm if ED services are available.”

In a Monday interview, Asagwara said the situation in Carberry is a concern for their government.

“It was on the mandate letter because it is a priority,” Asagwara said. “And we want to make sure that folks living in Westman have access to the care they deserve.”

Asagwara said that in the NDP’s election campaign, the party committed to improving how Manitoba attracts and retains physicians.

“There are steps that folks can anticipate seeing that we’re going to take to specifically ensure that we are recruiting and retaining expertize in rural Manitoba, in the Westman region especially.”

A campaign promise from all three major parties during the election was to support the Prairie Innovation Centre at ACC, with Kinew pledging at the Brandon Chamber of Commerce’s leaders’ debate to put $60 million toward the project.

The college’s president, Mark Frison, said Tuesday that “it’s great to see it translated from election promise into ministerial directive.”

So far, he said he spoke with Minister Cable once last week and has another meeting scheduled for this Friday.

In January, the previous government led by PC Leader Heather Stefanson committed $10 million towards the design of the innovation centre.

On top of that, the college has fundraised approximately $17 million of its $20-million goal for the centre and both the provincial and federal governments pledged funding towards establishing 216 child-care seats at the facility by 2026-27.

Frison said more resources will be needed to get the project across the finish line, including a $40-million ask from the federal government.

Once open, he said the facility will be able to add new programming like a food science program, chemical technology program, environment technician program, Indigenous resource management and new facilities for existing programs like agribusiness, land and water management.

When the plan to build the centre started, Frison said the college had fewer than 300 seats in agriculture-related programs. The end goal is to get that figure past the 800 mark.

Though a firm opening date isn’t on the table yet, Frison said he’d love for it to be open by September 2027.

Ministers Asagwara and Cable’s mandate letters also direct them to establish a program at ACC to offer training for licensed practical nurses to become registered nurses.

According to Frison, the development of that program is still in the early stages but it’s intended to run in such a way to allow licensed practical nurses to stay in their jobs while they pursue additional training.

Brandon East NDP MLA Glen Simard, recently appointed to the sport, culture and heritage, Francophone affairs and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries portfolios, was included in the list of mandate letters.

Simard was directed to support diverse cultural communities, establish new investments in creative sectors to support Manitoba artists and festivals, recognize the importance of Manitoba’s Francophone community, improve access to French-language education and public services, create policies towards ending racism in sports, support Manitoba athletes and to modernize the Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit.

The final slate of three mandate letters was released to the public on Tuesday. Included in the letter for Justice Minister Matt Wiebe was a directive to establish a new justice centre in Dauphin.

The provincial government did not respond to an interview request regarding the Prairie Innovation Centre or the nursing program at ACC by the Sun’s deadline.

» cslark@brandonsun.com, with files from Michele McDougall

» X: @ColinSlark