A large walk-in clinic in Brandon, Man. will shutter its doors next month due to “severe family physician shortages.”
Effective July 4, the Brandon Clinic will halt walk-in services, leaving the city of over 50,000 people with fewer options.
The announcement follows the layoffs of five full-time nurses, one casual nurse and one worker in a transcription position at the beginning of June at the facility.
The closure means those seeking medical attention will have to go elsewhere causing further pressure on an already strained system, says Thomas Linner, president of the Manitoba Health Coalition.
“When you’re shutting down walk-in services in a town like Brandon the only real next option is to go into one of those already-stressed emergency rooms,” Linner said.
Sixty to 70 patients visit the walk-in clinic per day, but will now end up at emergency rooms in Brandon or the surrounding region, Linner said.
“It’s too much, it’s too hard.”
Gina McKay, president of CUPE Manitoba which represents some health care workers in Manitoba, said the closure will affect more than just Brandon residents.
With the recent closure of a walk-in clinic in Neepawa, members of the surrounding community will also no longer have access to services, McKay said.
The president points to the Tory government to blame.
“We’ve heard all about the healing of health care in Manitoba but there’s no way to manage it,” she said.
NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara agreed.
“It’s a direct result of the failings of this government to lead health care in a way that puts people first,” they said Monday afternoon.
Asagwara said an NDP government would work with health providers and double the defunct rural physician recruitment fund.
Meanwhile, Linner said the government should look at how health facilities are operated and funded, like converting clinics to be funded based on the services they provide rather than a fee-per-physician basis.
“All options have to be on the table.”
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