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The Manitoba government is facing criticism for expanding for-profit labs after announcing the opening of a new Dynacare lab in Selkirk. (Free Press files)<\/p>\n
Before coming to power, the NDP pushed the former Progressive Conservative government to invest in the public health system, stating in a 2022 news release that \u201cprofit has no place in our hospitals and health-care centres.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elected the following year, the NDP has continued to sign contracts with the for-profit Dynacare for expanded services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a significant demand, particularly in rural communities, for better access to lab services,\u201d Asagwara said in an interview Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a strong partnership with Dynacare. For years, under the previous PC government, there was no actual agreement in place with Dynacare that had standards, that had deliverables, that had expectations for that company to improve and enhance services for Manitobans and to make their services more accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new agreement includes all of that and ensures more Manitobans have access to the lab services, the minister said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what Manitobans have been asking for. They\u2019ve been asking for improved and increased access, and this is addressing that concern. It reflects our responsiveness in listening to Manitobans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only way private, for-profit health-care companies are able to operate in rural settings is where there is public money to support them, Shulz said. The money would be better spent on public health care with better employee wages, he said.<\/p>\n
A Dynacare lab technician makes 24 per cent less than their public-sector counterpart employed by Shared Health, according to a wage comparison provided by the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals.<\/p>\n
Dynacare did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
The NDP remains a champion of the public health care system, Asagwara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always looking at ways that we can expand access through public services. We also have to keep in mind that Dynacare employs hundreds of Manitobans\u2026 They are a partner that has been in Manitoba now for many years due to a change under the previous government.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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In 2018, when the PCs were in office, Ontario-based Dynacare became the sole provider of community-based specimen collection and analysis services for Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
The opposition NDP at the time regularly spoke against the consolidation of labs, arguing seniors were paying the price because they could no longer access services at their local doctor\u2019s office or neighbourhood clinic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was because those sites were closed intentionally under the previous government,\u201d Asagwara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not what\u2019s happening here,\u201d the minister said of the new lab in Selkirk. \u201cThis is additional capacity being added.\u201d<\/p>\n
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Carol Sanders Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Legislature reporter
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