Latest news with #DarleneJackson
CBC
08-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Nurses rally by the hundreds to say Manitoba's health-care system hasn't improved under NDP
Nurses crammed the steps of the Manitoba Legislature and brought along a cheeky slogan to try to capture the attention of a provincial government they say is excluding them. "Same shift, different day," hundreds of nurses chanted in unison Wednesday afternoon, while carrying signs relaying the same slogan but with the letter "f" in "shift" crossed out. Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, said the sassy slogan was crafted with one audience in mind. "What we're finding is the only way we get the government's attention is by actually either shaming them or coming out and being edgy and very pointed," she told reporters. Before the NDP was elected in 2023, Jackson said the union was fielding "continuous phone calls" from the then opposition party, which said fixing the province's beleaguered health-care system would be its top priority. But 18 months later, "we hear from our nurses on a daily basis that we are not seeing any appreciable change to health-care," said Jackson. Their frustrations boiled over at the rally, where nurses clad in pink waved signs, chanted and shouted. Their central message: the health-care system hasn't improved in any noticeable way, despite what the NDP government is saying. "Too many of us are leaving shifts with hearts heavy, bodies broken and nothing left to give," Jackson told the rally, prompting some nurses to shout "shame." "It's the same damn shift every single day." Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara was in the crowd, and after the rally heard from one nurse who was disappointed Premier Wab Kinew wasn't in attendance as well. When asked by reporters about the message nurses were sending, Asagwara said it was "important" to hear. "I know that nurses want more, and they deserve more," the minister said. "Our government is going to keep listening to them and taking action so that we can make health care the best place it can possibly be." Almost 600 new hires: minister Asagwara said the province has hired nearly 600 net new nurses over the last year, but the nurses' union repeated that its members haven't seen a difference in their workload. Kimberly Ross, a psychiatric nurse at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, said her working conditions have worsened in the last year and a half. She worries violence against nurses is becoming normalized. "Nurses are traumatized. The things that we have to witness and the things that we have to endure, unfortunately, are toxic and terrible." Jackson said the union has been trying to sit down with government to discuss its issues, but "we have been absolutely frozen out." "We're not going to continue to keep nurses in health care if we don't change culture. That was a huge promise made, and nothing's happened to change culture," she said. "We have to speak out, and we have to be edgy to get what we need." Disagreement over last meeting Jackson alleged she hasn't had a face-to-face meeting with Asagwara in "months," which Asagwara later disputed by saying the two met last Friday. A union official explained the two were in the same room for a committee, chaired by Tuxedo MLA Carla Compton, involving both the nurses' union and government. But that doesn't count as a meeting between the two of them, the union official said. One area Jackson and Asagwara both agreed on is a desire for progress around nurse-patient ratios. B.C. and Nova Scotia have worked to develop guaranteed staffing levels, and a few speakers at Wednesday's rally recommended the same tactic in Manitoba. In the last round of contract negotiations, Manitoba's nurses successfully bargained for a committee to study the idea. Asagwara told reporters they expect to receive recommendations from the union by early next year. Nurses rally at Manitoba Legislature to protest lack of improvement in health care 1 hour ago Duration 1:41 Hundreds of Manitoba nurses attended a rally at the legislature to call on the provincial government to "step up" and make notable improvements to a health-care system it promised to fix.
Global News
07-05-2025
- Health
- Global News
Nurses union bemoans lack of health-care progress in Manitoba, rally planned
More than 500 Manitoba nurses are expected to attend a rally at the legislature Wednesday, calling for changes in the province's health-care system. Despite a change in provincial government almost two years ago, the Manitoba Nurses Union says its members are still encountering the same broken health-care system shift after shift and that they are feeling disappointed and frustrated with the lack of progress. President Darlene Jackson told 680 CJOB's The Start that wait times are up and workplace violence is increasing, turning many nurses away from the profession. 'There's probably not a shift in the last year that there hasn't been violence in some facility, or probably all facilities, some type of violence … and that is massive. 'Nurses are leaving because of it. I had one nurse that said to me, 'I loved my job at the Health Sciences Centre, but I'm not putting my life at risk to go to work.'' Story continues below advertisement Jackson said promises made by the NDP government have, so far, seemed empty, and nurses are growing more frustrated as morale continues to deteriorate. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We are still seeing nurses working short with the incredibly heavy workloads — mandated overtime and tons of voluntary overtime is still a thing,' she said. 'Our wait times are rising eyery year. They rose again this year. Nurses are frustrated because we truly hoped that we would see some big differences in health care based on the promises and we're just not seeing that.' Jackson, who has been a nurse since 1981, told The Start the state of health care in the province is now worse than it was in the 1990s when nurses went on strike. While the MNU says it would give the province's current health care situation a D-minus grade, a spokesperson for Doctors Manitoba said that organization has a slightly more positive view. 'Looking at the evidence we have on health care, and considering there was a pandemic and years of disruption and underfunding, Doctors Manitoba would grade the progress of the last 18 months as a B-minus — improvement still needed, but on the right track,' they said in a statement. The spokesperson said Manitobans still have reasons to have concerns about the system — with 'unreasonably long' wait times and hospitals experiencing service closures, plus burnout among doctors. Improvement has been seen, however, as far as recruitment to turn around the doctor shortage and wait-time improvements in certain areas. Story continues below advertisement 'There's still a lot that as to get better, but it's safe to say Manitoba is on the right track when it comes to improving health care,' the statement said. Global News has reached out the premier and health minister for comment.
CBC
25-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
New momentum to ease labour mobility rules worries some Manitoba health-care leaders
Federal party leaders and provincial governments are trying to make it easier for workers to seamlessly move between provinces as a response to U.S. tariffs, but some health-care leaders in Manitoba aren't enthusiastic. "It just worries me that nurses are going to take this as an opportunity to strike out and look for greener pastures," Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said. There's renewed interest in eliminating interprovincial barriers that restrict workers' mobility, now seen as a way to bolster an economy hurting from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. Provincial governments in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have introduced legislation or written letters to support worker movement. Jackson, however, worries about potential consequences. She's spent years sounding the alarm about overworked nurses fleeing the public health-care system to quit the profession, work for private agencies or move to other jurisdictions. With no notable change to nurses' working conditions since then, according to Jackson, "I think it's not going to be great for our health-care system" to scrap labour mobility restrictions. Campaign promises Both the Liberals and the Conservatives, the parties with a shot at forming the next federal government, have promised improved mobility. Before the federal election call, the Liberal government called for a Canada-wide credential recognition plan to be developed by June 1. Under that plan, every profession would be brought under the new structure, but it would be up to provinces and territories to decide which jobs to focus on first. The Liberals' election platform also commits to eliminating all federal hurdles to the movement of workers and implementing pan-Canadian licensing for physicians. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have vowed repeatedly to develop a national competency test that allows qualified doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals to work anywhere in Canada. Jackson said she recognizes the benefits. She said she knows of relocated nurses who currently struggle to get licensed in Manitoba. But the existing culture in health-care isn't conducive to recruiting and retaining staff, she said. "I really don't want this to be a way out of Manitoba," she said. "I would rather make things better in Manitoba and keep those nurses." Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals president Jason Linklater shares the worry Manitoba will be hurt by improved labour mobility. The province historically loses more people to interprovincial migration than it gains, but Manitoba's population still grows annually, mainly through immigration from other countries. "I really believe that Manitoba is a fantastic place to live and work, but to keep people here, we're going to need to remain competitive," Linklater said, referring to such areas as wages, scope of practice and working conditions. The contract the union reached with the provincial employer in March includes provisions that will help, he said. But the association representing Canada's physicians hopes the broad interest in updating labour mobility rules will bring lasting changes. "I think if not now, then when?" asked Dr. Joss Reimer, the Winnipeg-based president of the Canadian Medical Association. "This is the first time where we really heard all of the provinces, the health ministers, the premiers talking about this with a common perspective." Reimer said giving physicians the freedom to move with ease won't lead to an exodus. Physicians can already move to a new jurisdiction if they want. "It's worth the cost, it's worth the paperwork" for them, but the current rules are a barrier to out-of-province physicians who, for example, want to help a northern Manitoba hospital on a short-term basis but don't think applying for a Manitoba licence is worth it. Boon for rural hospitals: Reimer Changing the rules won't solve the physician shortage, but it will help, Reimer said. "I think the most likely outcome is we're going to see that rural and remote areas will benefit the most from a policy like this." Doctors Manitoba, a physician advocacy group, said in a statement it's intrigued by pan-Canadian licensing, but other changes, such as simplifying the path to licensing for international physicians, would better tackle the doctor shortage. The association also said easing labour mobility limits would be complicated, because doctors are regulated provincially. A Manitoba cabinet minister said helping people freely move between jurisdictions would be a net positive for the province. "You can have a good job here, own a home and sometimes even own a cottage," said Jamie Moses, minister of business, mining, trade and job creation. "These are the opportunities that we're selling to the rest of the country, on top of being a beautiful province with great opportunities, culture and life," he said. "We want to make sure more people know this." Moses said the government is focused on addressing the challenges in health care to make it an attractive field. The province hired 1,255 additional health-care workers over nine months in 2024. More mobility could mean losing health-care workers: Manitoba union heads 4 minutes ago Duration 2:04 Union leaders are concerned a proposal to ease labour mobility rules across the country will lead workers who feel overworked in Manitoba's health-care system to flee.
CBC
02-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Manitoba government spent more promoting cost-savings than advertising vaccines, documents show
The Manitoba government has spent or budgeted more than $340,000 for advertising campaigns promoting its fuel tax and electricity savings — more than it spent last year on ads to persuade people to get vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19, suggest government documents. And with flu numbers continuing to rise this winter, and vaccination rates trending lower, there are calls for more spending on a vaccination campaign. "I don't think that we are doing enough advertisement and sort of urging individuals to go for their flu shot, to get their COVID boosters," said Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union. The province spent a little more than $163,000 last year on advertising related to the yearlong suspension of the provincial fuel tax that ended in December, says a government response to a freedom of information request from The Canadian Press. The campaign included billboards and social media ads. The government set aside just over $180,000 for more recent ad campaigns to tout the reinstatement of the fuel tax at a lower rate — 12.5 cents a litre compared to 14.5 cents a litre — and a planned yearlong freeze on hydroelectric rates that has yet to be approved by the province's energy regulator, says another document. When it came to advertising campaigns last year to promote flu and COVID-19 shots, the government spent just over $261,000. The government declined an interview request. In a statement, it said that in addition to the ad campaigns, the vaccine push included $50,000 for posters in health-care settings and other promotional material. "We are committed to investing in public health ad campaigns that promote the health and well-being of Manitobans," Amy Tuckett-McGimpsey, director of cabinet communications, wrote in an email. The government has planned an additional $60,000 for this year to promote vaccination and in total is spending a similar amount to what previous governments did, she added. A political analyst said it's not uncommon for governments to run ads to promote themselves and tell people that certain promises have been fulfilled, but it can be problematic. "Advertising regarding universal, automatic spending programs fall into the problematic category. There are pros and cons," said Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba. "The ads inform citizens that the government recognizes the financial stresses they are experiencing and how public money is being used — directly and indirectly — to address the affordability crisis. The con would be that there is no purpose of educating the public about their eligibility and how to take advantage of a program. Instead, the purpose is to claim political credit and to encourage gratitude among voters." Affordability has been a key promise for the NDP government, which was elected in 2023. The ads promote areas where consumers save but not where prices have risen — such as auto insurance rates at Crown-owned Manitoba Public Insurance, which are going up 5.7 per cent this year. This winter's flu season in Manitoba started later than the last two years and has been ramping up in recent weeks. "We've seen similar numbers or higher numbers in the past as well," said Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba's deputy chief provincial public health officer. "It is expected that we're going to see an increase in cases." There were 460 influenza A cases in the week ending Feb. 22, the government's most recent respiratory virus surveillance report said. There were 15 associated admissions to intensive care and 16 deaths. Vaccination rates are lower so far this year. The provincial data says 23.1 per cent of the population has been vaccinated for influenza, compared to 25.2 per cent last winter. Jackson said nurses in her union are feeling the effects of the flu season and are suffering from staff shortages. "This definitely has an impact on workload for front-line nurses," Jackson said.
CBC
13-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
Nurses aren't seeing results on front lines, despite NDP plan to fix health-care system: Nurses' Union
The Manitoba Nurses Union is calling for the provincial government to be more transparent about the state of health care as nurses aren't seeing any significant changes, despite the NDP's plan to fix the system. Union president Darlene Jackson said the level of transparency is comparable to the previous government even though NDP Premier Wab Kinew, who was elected in October 2023, assured workers struggling with burnout at understaffed hospitals that help was on the way. "What we're finding is there's very little transparency from this government. There's almost no collaborative effort with this government and … we need our members' voices heard out there," Jackson said during a news conference at the MNU building on Thursday. She said the Manitoba government must end reliance on private agency nurses and reinvest in permanent staff to make nursing a lifelong career. The government announced Friday it has hired 1,255 net new health care workers — which includes 481 nurses — since April last year. Kinew previously clarified that the net new number accounts for departures that happened over the same period. But union president Darlene Jackson said nurses aren't seeing an increase in staff and continue to be overworked. "The day that announcement came out, I had messages from members asking me where are they?" Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara addressed the union's concerns on transparency during a news conference at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Thursday afternoon. "I can tell you as a nurse myself, as somebody who worked on the front lines under the previous PC administration, our government's approach is completely different than the previous PC government. We respect nurses, we value nurses and we've actively been listening to nurses in their workplaces," Asagwara said. The minister said the provincial government has been listening to nurses since "Day 1" and is making sure they are getting fairly bargained collective agreements along with more hired health-care staff. Asagwara also said the 481 net new nurses are working in the public health-care system. "We know that the changes that Manitobans want to see, that nurses want to see, the big changes are going to take time," Asagwara said. "The previous government broke the trust of health-care workers and now the NDP is trying to restore that trust." Issues have increased: report Issues involving emergency and urgent care wait times, staffing vacancies, overtime, violence in hospitals and agency spending on private nurses have increased, according to a white paper the Manitoba Nurses Union released Wednesday. The 36-page report addresses the realities nurses have been seeing for years — that they are drowning in a health-care system that is failing front-line workers and the patients they care for, Jackson said. "There is no doubt that our health-care system is in crisis," she said. "Our hospitals are becoming unsafe places to work and unsafe places to receive care all over the province." In 2020, nearly one in six nursing positions remained unfilled which worsened in the summer of 2024 with approximately one in five nursing positions left vacant provincewide, the report said, which credited the data to a freedom of information request to various health authorities. The rise in vacancies has resulted in an increase in nurses working overtime hours, which is linked to greater risks in more critical incidents involving medical errors, injuries, toxic workplace culture and higher mortality rates, Jackson said. From the 2023-24 fiscal year, nurses worked more than 1.1 million overtime hours compared to 800,000 overtime hours during the 2020-21 fiscal year, the report said. "This is not just a staffing crisis, this is a patient safety crisis," she said. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre is ranked as the largest community teaching hospital to have the highest standardized mortality rate in Canada. St. Boniface Hospital, Grace Hospital and Brandon Regional Health Centre were also listed in the top eight largest community teaching hospitals with high mortality rates, the report said. Union survey The union sent out a survey to its 13,000 members in late 2024 which got a response from 1,326 people. The survey showed 23 per cent of nurses who responded believed overall health care and patient outcomes had gotten worse, whereas 35 per cent said they had seen some improvements in the past year. The survey said 42 per cent of nurses saw no improvements or noted the overall health care and patient outcomes were the same as before. Wait times for emergency and urgent care centres have more than doubled, resulting in approximately one in seven patients leaving without being seen by a health provider, the report said. Jackson said Manitoba is losing nurses to other provinces, the private sector, retirement and those who are leaving the profession. The province also needs nurses to help mentor and support new graduates. While the province has increased the number of seats in schools, Jackson said the health-care system won't likely see the impacts for another year or two because nursing programs run for four years. The only thing workers can do is "tread water" until they have adequate nurses in the system, she said. The Manitoba Nurses Union has multiple recommendations, including improving Manitoba's Provincial Travel Nurse Team, hospital safety, increasing transparency and more incentives for senior nurses to support new nursing graduates. Asagwara said the province is already making progress on them.
