Health region audits show ‘systemic government failures’

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This article was published 06/02/2025 (413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A financial audit analyzing Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) and two other regional health authorities in the province showed they all have challenges in budgeting and controlling finances, staffing, culture, and communication.

Manitoba Health released a 140-page report on the health regions Wednesday during a news conference with Uzoma Asagwara, the province’s minister of health, seniors and long-term care.

The audits revealed “systemic government failures,” said Asagwara, “that have undermined morale for front-line workers while worsening the culture in our health-care system.”

“If the disease in our health-care system is a culture of dysfunction, then the symptom of that disease is fiscal mismanagement,” they said.

Asagwara blamed the previous Progressive Conservative government for making cuts to health care that led to longer wait times, frustration for front-line staff, and a “bloated” bureaucracy.

Minutes before the provincial audits were made public, temporary leaders were announced for the province’s two largest health authorities.

Jane Curtis, the head of Southern Health, agreed to take on the Winnipeg Regional Health Authorityjob’s top on an interim basis. She replaces Mike Nader, who had been in the role since April 2021.

Dr. Chris Christodoulou was also named the new CEO of Shared Health. He’s replacing Lanette Siragusa, who held the position since April 2023.

The NDP hired consulting firm Deloitte last year to conduct comprehensive reviews of PMH, Northern Health, Interlake Eastern as well as CancerCare Manitoba to review spending between 2019 and 2020, and 2023 to 2024.

PMH has been in a deficit for four out of five years from 2019 to 2023, the document stated.

The top three “deficit drivers,” for PMH are personnel, which includes paying private agencies for nurses, transportation, which includes agency nurse travel as well as an increase in the cost of air ambulance.

The final expenditure reflects the higher price for medical supplies driven by inflation and demand.

PMH welcomes the release of the report, said Treena Slate, the health region’s CEO, adding, the findings are consistent with their own financial reporting.

“In collaboration with the Government of Manitoba, Prairie Mountain Health has been actively working on an extensive review of financial operations,” Slate wrote in an email to the Sun.

The report, she said, “highlights over-expenditures related to the reliance on contracted agency staff and overtime costs as the main contributors to our deficit position.”

Through interviews with program managers and directors within PMH, auditors stated that some financial practices were not being followed such as regular meetings to “better manage costs,” which “impacts the ability to build accurate assumptions into the budget.”

During additional interviews outlined in the report, PMH stated more than once the difficulty it has faced “delivering services within the provided funding level.”

The summary from the auditors stated, “Based on interviews with management, PMH cannot currently deliver services within the funding level, and have not found realistic opportunities to redirect services without impacting service delivery and quality of care.”

When asked if additional funding would help the health region address the deficit, Slate told the Sun, “PMH is committed to provide all our current services and operations with our current funding. We are working diligently to find cost savings opportunities and decrease expenditure on private agency and overtime.”

Asagwara said they acknowledged that PMH’s deficit is almost entirely driven by agency use.

When questioned about what can be done about increasing funding to the health region they said, they are going to work with PMH to help bring down the agency spending.

“Prairie Mountain Health has a partner in our government and we’re working with them to address their deficit. We meet with them regularly, and will continue to take a unique and very tailored approach to staffing Prairie Mountain Health to bringing folks back to the public health care system in that region,” they told the Sun.

The report stated that all health regions have issues with transparency around budgeting, cash flow as well as the recruitment and retention of accountants, and called for a stricter examination of projected spending.

Southern Health was excluded from the audit, said Asagwara because of its proven track record of balancing its budget.

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