Northern Manitoba Health Center Reopens Closed Due to Staff Shortages – Winnipeg | The Canadian News

Leaf Rapids Health Center in Northern Manitoba will reopen Monday for patients.

Staff shortages closed the northern hospital on 27 December. It will reopen despite continued concerns about retaining nurses and doctors.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says the temporary closure of the health facility paints a bigger picture of northern health care.

There is insufficient care in the north, ”Chief Arlen Dumas, Assembly of the Manitoba Chiefs, told Global News.

“I think it was very negligent that the hospitals in the north had to be closed.”

Dumas calls the Leaf Rapids Center “instrumental” and a “hub” used by many surrounding communities. He is happy to reopen the health center, but is not confident that it will remain so.

“I have not seen enough of systemic change to bring my confidence that things are going to get better.”

Gillam Hospital was also closed, but has since reopened.

The Leaf Rapids Health Center was scheduled to open on January 10, but ongoing staffing issues pushed the date further back. This is something the nurses’ union expects to become the new normal.

“I think this is something we are going to see more and more commonly in this province as we get further into the fourth wave and more nurses leave the industry,” said Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union.

“Staff shortages have definitely reached a more critical level than we have seen in the past. In the north, there is a bit of geography that you have to navigate when talking about closing a facility like Leaf Rapids, ”she says.

NDP leader Wab Kinew earlier this week called on the Manitoba PC government to make the reopening of the health facility a priority.

Global News reached out to the Northern Health Region and the provincial government for comment, but neither of them responded by time of publication.