Myrna Driedger

 

Conservative Health Critic Myrna Driedger is calling the Souris emergency room closure another N.D.P. failure.

 

She says there is a real problem in our province in retaining doctors, noting over 1,500 have left Manitoba in the last ten years with the largest exodus taking place in 2008 with 250 doctors leaving. Driedger adds this creates a revolving door of doctors coming and going in the province, destabilizing the healthcare system. She notes there has to be a much stronger effort in retaining doctors, adding if nothing changes we will see this problem continue as it has for the past ten years. Driedger says rural Manitobans need to be included in a dialogue about what needs to be done to improve rural healthcare, adding it concerns her to hear how many feel like second-class citizens. She notes the N.D.P. government has failed to put in place the proper management and planning needed to provide reliable healthcare in rural Manitoba.

Driedger adds the closure at Souris is the 18th take place in rural Manitoba. She says there is a certain amount of fear for loved ones resonating from residents, adding she can't imagine what it would be like to live in an area where quick access to healthcare isn't available. Driedger says a lack of emergency services could lead to poor outcomes.