Getting the job done in health care – Winnipeg Free Press

Opinion

The NDP government in Manitoba seems to have a love-hate relationship with private health clinics.

In opposition, the NDP consistently criticized the Tory government of the day for expanding the use of private clinics in the publicly funded health care system. NDP Leader Wab Kinnew accused the Tories of “privatizing” health care.

If Kineu was elected to government at the time, the NDP promised to reduce the use of private clinics and expand the public system.

Now that the NDP is in government, it has renewed some contracts with private clinics, including Maples Surgery Center, which performs orthopedic surgeries.

Under these contracts, patients are not charged for the medical services they receive. Surgical or diagnostic procedures are covered under the province's publicly funded health care system.

Contracts with private clinics are legal under the Canada Health Act. Federal law prohibits doctors and clinics from charging patients for medical services covered under the provincial government's health plan. This does not prevent provinces from contracting with private clinics if the services are covered by the government.

Why this debate? Because the PDP seems to be ideologically opposed to the use of private clinics. The party has been staunch in its criticism of private facilities and campaigned to limit their use during last year's provincial election.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara did not respond to a question last week about what private contracts were continuing in the province. Instead, the minister promised that information about private clinics would come soon.

Provincial governments of all political stripes in Canada, including Manitoba, have been using private clinics to augment their publicly funded health care systems for decades. This is not new. Private clinics give governments flexibility beyond public hospitals and add capacity to the system.

For example, in Manitoba, the Western Surgery Center, a private clinic in Winnipeg, performs thousands of cataract surgeries for the province each year. The clinic has increased the number of procedures it performs for the province following the COVID-19 pandemic and has helped reduce the backlog of cataract surgery.