by PAUL RAYNER

Progress has been made, but continuing work on securing a health care future in Boissevain remains a top priority.

So explained Boissevain Mayor Ed Anderson to the Boissevain & District Chamber of Commerce at their meeting on May 22. Anderson outlined the efforts in local health care recruitment and retainment up to now, and where the efforts will be directed in the near future.

He began by saying that the health care situation in the community is about as good at this time as any in the recent past. The committee struck to deal with the issue recognized areas where work needed to be done and got at it. One area was the need for health care professionals. Always a concern in Boissevain as in all rural Manitoba communities, it was at the stage of becoming acute. Not only was it important to take care of present and future shortages for technical reasons, but also for overall health care security.

“We created a sponsorship committee,” Anderson stated. “The only way we could keep health care here was to train our own people. If we can do that the provincial people can’t shut us down.”

He said about a year ago, they started to analyze the nurse situation and came up with some scary facts. In the Registered Nurse section alone, the mayor stated, there were eight getting into retirement age within the next few years. Killarney too had been struggling and were having to bring them in from Minnedosa and Neepawa, with the Assiniboine RHA paying overtime and their accommodations having to be taken care of as well. Anderson said they worked hard to bring in local RN’s and Licensed Practical Nurses, and were successful in some cases, bringing in Holly Boyd to a small position and Robyn Denbow, who also operates a foot clinic in town. As well, they started their sponsorship program.

The program, which provides funding for nurse education in return for service to the community, has thus far worked well. Tara Megaffin has already graduated from the Practical Nursing Program and is working in Evergreen Place. Nicole McCorrister is in the Bachelor of Nursing program in Brandon University and is expected to graduate in April 2008. Sondra Darling has completed the first year of that same program and will soon be eligible for the sponsorship.

“We decided we wanted them to take at least one year before they were sponsored, because there are a lot of people who drop out of the program.”

At this point, they are a .65 RN position short at the health centre. One of the good news, bad news parts of the deal is that someone retires, they are usually replaced from within the local system. For example, Wanda Cameron was replaced at Westview by Roberta Tichon. Anderson said they are also trying, with some success, to have retired members available for casual shifts.

Another area working well is from the doctor sponsorship program. Our student, Rikki Yahiro, recently completed his first year of medical school in Hungary. As part of the program, the Town of Boissevain and the RM of Morton rotate years of sponsorship with the ARHA. Year two is the local responsibility.

However, there are still areas of concern. As Anderson stated, there are shortages in the First Responder area, with only two full time at present and questions about the casual. He said they are still working on that piece of the puzzle.

Personnel are not the only areas of concern. Equipment has been a problem. Recently, the x-ray equipment has kicked up a fuss, to the point where it was not working for a full weekend. They could take the x-rays, but not develop them. As the mayor explained, it causes serious concerns for doctors, as they cannot diagnose what could be a serious problem quickly enough when this occurs.

Not under the RHA, Anderson said he started working on the concern with the province directly. Eventually, those involved at the Manitoba Health level agreed to purchase another film machine. However, Anderson said they would much prefer a computerized model, as then results could be sent away to experts in the blink of an eye.

“You could send it to the Mayo Clinic or Health Sciences Center right away and boom, you could have an answer,” Anderson explained. “In a small town, you need this big city help.”

The authorities said no at first, but said the situation could change if there was local money involved. The estimated cost is around $100,000, much lower than originally stated, and Anderson said there are plans to go around to service clubs and the Boissevain & Morton Foundation to help with the effort.

The mayor added he would also like to add an ultrasound machine in the future, as Dr. Kathy Rhanavardi is qualified to read them. It would be a boon to the entire area, he said. These developments would also be important in keeping personnel in the community.

“You have to give the people the right equipment and what they want in order to keep them.”

There has been success, but there is also a long road ahead.

“Every component,” Anderson stated, “is important. Nurses, doctors, ambulance people, lab and x-ray – all are equally important. If you lose them, then bang, they will put a bag over the H-sign and our health centre will close. More work must be done.”