Latest news with #HealthLinks
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Measles exposure identified at Winkler autobody shop, Manitoba government says
Social Sharing Anyone who was at a southern Manitoba autobody shop at certain times over the past week might have been exposed to measles, the province said Friday. The possible exposures happened at Moonlite Auto Body at 420 Airport Dr. in Winkler, Man., on May 23, 26 and 27 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., a provincial news release said. Anyone potentially exposed on those dates should monitor for symptoms until June 14, 17 and 18, respectively, the release said. The province says some of the recent measles cases detected in Manitoba didn't have any known contact with another measles case, meaning it spread in the community. Anyone who thinks they might have been exposed at the autobody shop but hasn't been directly notified should call Health Links-Info Santé at 204-788-8200 in Winnipeg or 1-888-315-9257 toll-free in Manitoba, the province said. As of Wednesday (the most recent update available), Manitoba had confirmed 72 cases of measles since February and four other probable cases. Fifty-three of those cases were detected this month. Measles is a highly infectious disease that spreads through droplets in the air that form when someone with the illness coughs or sneezes. Symptoms generally appear seven to 21 days after exposure, and can initially include fever, runny nose, drowsiness, irritability, red eyes and small white spots on the inside of the mouth or throat, the province said. Several days after those initial symptoms, a red blotchy rash appears on the face and moves down the body. An infected person can spread the virus from four days before the rash appears to four days after, the province said. The disease also tends to be more severe in infants and young kids, and can be life-threatening and lead to complications including ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia (lung infection) and encephalitis (brain inflammation). If a person develops measles symptoms, anyone who might have been exposed is advised to isolate at home and contact their health-care provider to tell them about the potential exposure, the province said. Anyone else in the home who isn't immunized against measles should limit their exposure to other people until the symptomatic person has received advice from their health-care provider. The province also notes it's best to call ahead so your health-care provider can take steps to reduce the risk of exposing other people to the virus. Immunization against measles is the only way to protect against getting the illness, the province said, encouraging people to contact an immunization provider such as a local public health office, physician or nurse practitioner to ensure coverage is up to date. In Manitoba, a two-dose vaccine program for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMR or MMRV) is routinely given for children who are at least one, and again between ages four and six. However, in the case of a measles exposure, a second dose can be given earliert, the province said.
CTV News
17-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Province warns of potential measles exposure in Winnipeg
Public health officials in Manitoba say people may have been exposed to measles at two locations in Winnipeg on May 11, 2025. The province is alerting Manitobans of two Winnipeg locations where people may have been exposed to measles. According to a news release Saturday, people who attended a Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra event at Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain (CCFM) on May 11 between 12:50 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. may have been exposed to the disease. Potential exposures were also reported at Dave and LaVerne's Modern Diner on Lakewood Drive the same day between 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Anyone who visited either location on May 11 is asked to monitor symptoms until June 2. Public health officials are also asking anyone who may have been exposed to contact Health Links-Info Santé. Officials noted some of the recent measles cases did not have any known contact to a prior case. Initial measles symptoms can include fever, runny nose, drowsiness, and red eyes, with a red, blotchy rash appearing on the face and moving down the body later. Symptoms generally appear between seven- and 21-days following exposure.
Winnipeg Free Press
02-05-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Team of front-line workers to tackle hospital wait times
The Manitoba government has released a new strategy aimed at lowering hospital emergency room wait times, with an initial goal of cutting key metrics by an hour. Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said it's hoped the two metrics — for patients waiting to be seen in an ER and for patients who leave without being seen — begin to improve in six months to a year. 'We're looking at reducing those wait times by approximately an hour,' Asagwara said at a news conference at Health Sciences Centre Thursday. 'Ultimately, our goal is to meaningfully lower those wait times and sustain that over time. If metrics improve in four months, in eight months, and we see a reduction of two hours, great, but we need to sustain that.' MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The median 'waiting to be seen time' (from registration upon arrival to seeing a doctor or nurse practitioner) reached a high of four hours in December 2023 at Winnipeg's four emergency rooms and three urgent care centres, the government said. The median was 3.92 in March, as per the latest data from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. The 'left without being seen rate' measures patients who leave ERs before an assessment or treatment by a doctor or nurse practitioner. It is an indicator of ER performance, particularly excessively long wait times. At Winnipeg hospitals, between 14.2 and 17.3 per cent of patients left without being seen in the 12 months up to March, as per government data. Hiring more front-line staff is a key part of the plan to reduce wait times, Asagwara said. The NDP government said it has hired more than 1,600 net new health-care staff and added 240 fully staffed beds since being elected in October 2023. The strategy involves a new team, made up of doctors, nurses, other front-line staff and process engineers, that is tasked with reducing wait times. Asagwara vowed the team's work and structure will be different from ER wait time task forces or committees set up by past governments. Costs are included in the 2025-26 budget, they said. The group, already at work for a few months, is proposing changes system-wide, not just in ERs, to help improve the quality of care to Manitobans. Many involve expanding or using existing resources more efficiently. Access block is one of the main barriers to reducing wait times, Asagwara said. It happens when admitted ER patients cannot be transferred because staffed beds elsewhere in the health system are not available. The team is exploring ways to reduce access block at triage, which team co-chair Dr. Kendiss Olafson said would involve staff seeing to patients in the waiting room when an ER is overwhelmed. A new Manitoba 811 service, incorporating Health Links and virtual services, is designed to help nurses triage and redirect low-acuity patients away from ERs. Another initiative is the return of a virtual ward and an expansion of home-based care teams to allow certain patients to receive care in their home. There are plans to do more endoscopy procedures, and expand a program that provides intravenous therapy in patients' homes rather than at a hospital. Olafson said the team aims to expand services, add capacity and break down barriers, as well as not create more work for staff. Heidi Adamko, a process engineer and team member, recounted the challenges and long waits her mother faced while receiving care for cancer. Her mother, in the nine days before she died, spent two nights and one day in waiting rooms, and three days in emergency beds waiting for a bed elsewhere, before being moved to palliative care, Adamko said. PHIL HOSSACK / FREE PRESS FILES 'Her story isn't unique. Unfortunately, these waits have become the normal experience for Manitobans accessing acute care,' she said. Adamko said she's grateful to get an opportunity to improve care for others. 'At some point, each of us will find ourselves waiting for care. My hope is that no one waits as long as my mom did in the final week of their life,' she said. Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said the team is made up of people who want to make a difference. She hopes the government gives them the support they need, and properly funds the initiatives they propose. 'I know from experience that many, many times committees bring forward strategies and make recommendations that are never carried out,' Jackson said. 'To me, it's a colossal waste of time for these individuals if that's going to happen.' ER wait times in Manitoba, she said, have climbed for the fourth year in a row. Asagwara blamed ER current wait times on cuts and facility closures by the former Tory government. Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook said the 'blame game' isn't going to solve the problem. Wednesdays A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future. 'Accountability and action are going to solve the problem,' she said. Cook said she has a 'great deal' of respect for the team's members. A 12-page strategy document released Thursday was 'very thin,' she said. 'The NDP announced an ER wait time strategy in their throne speech back in the fall. It's been months since then,' Cook said. 'I'm, frankly, very surprised that this is all they've come up with in the time in between. I don't see this as an actionable strategy. I see it more as a political document.' She said the document should include targets, timelines and an analysis of the additional capacity that is needed throughout the system to lower wait times. Chris KitchingReporter Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris. Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
24-04-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Two new cases of measles announced
Manitoba Health announced two new confirmed cases of measles in the province Wednesday. That brings the total number of confirmed and probable infections reported in Manitoba to 12 since February 10. Both individuals attended Southwood School in the Rural Municipality of Stanley during the infectious period, a news release late Wednesday stated. The cases were confirmed after recent travel to Mexico. Public health officials asked anyone who may have been exposed at the school on April 14-15 or on school buses servicing Southwood and Prairie Dale schools on those days to contact Health Links at 204-788-8200 in Winnipeg or toll-free in Manitoba at 1-888-351-9257. The measles virus spreads through close contact with an infected person and through the air via cough or sneeze. The virus can be spread by droplets that can stay in the air for several hours. Infection can result in serious illness or death. Symptoms generally appear 21 days after exposure. Public health officials urge Manitobans to stay up to date on immunization, the only means of protection from measles.
