Ken Manitopyes is diagnosed with COPD, diabetes and high blood pressure. He used to avoid the hospital, only showing up when his symptoms were really bad, until he was told about “Connecting to Care.”
“I would make appointments but I wouldn’t go to them. Like I didn’t really care about, if I was going to give up or not,” Manitopyes said.
The program is offered through the Regina and Saskatoon Health regions, and it aims to help high-use and high-cost patients get their complex needs met by community-based programs, rather than emergency room visits. In Manitopyes’s case, health-care workers come directly to him.
READ MORE: Alarming rise in violence in Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region
The provincial government funds the program in an effort to cut health-care costs. They say one per cent of high-use patients account for about 21 per cent of hospital costs.
“The end result of people being able to drive their own care and understanding what it takes, and being able to have people to turn to and advocate for them. They do better, when they know better. The end result is people are healthier,” Connecting to Care’s Lori Robertson said.
Since being able to take control of his health, Manitopyes says he is feeling not just healthier, but also hopeful.
READ MORE: RQHR warns of ‘high patient volumes’ and wait times at emergency departments in Regina
“I started going to appointments because of all of them… If it wasn’t for Connecting to Care… I wouldn’t be here right now… Thank god for them people,” he said.
Comments