Buying Your Approval
May 05, 2017
Billboards, social media, news sites - the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) and the Manitoba Government really want you to buy into their new plan for health care. Since announcing an overhaul of medical services in Winnipeg on April 7, the government and WRHA have launched a series of taxpayer funded ads promoting their new vision titled, “Healing our Health System.”
The new plan will shut three emergency rooms in the city of Winnipeg. Winnipeg residents and health care professionals have been voicing their concerns. Rallies have been held, with more to come as groups of people from all over the city unite to fight against the cuts. The government would also have you believe that these changes to the health care system were made solely to benefit the public who rely on them. But this has been shown to be false; it is a cost driven decision. The WRHA expects to save over $30 million this year from the overhaul of the ER system.
But as these groups mount pressure on the government and the WRHA to reverse its decision, thousands of taxpayer dollars are being spent to convince you that this new plan is the right plan.
The MGEU has filed a request for information to find out exactly how much is being spent on advertising to push this agenda forward. When the figure is available, we will share it with our members and the public. We believe that public money should be spent on improving patient care, not on public relations exercises that justify privatization schemes or cuts to services and jobs..
Manitobans elected this Premier because he promised he would protect and invest in public services and the people that deliver them. I don’t think anyone would consider closing ERs as protecting public services. Forcing ERs to close, making sweeping, drastic changes all at once is risky business and goes too far. It puts patient care in jeopardy.
The head of Doctors Manitoba is saying this.
It’s time for the Premier to listen to the experts before it’s too late.
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