Adult day programs and long-term care homes are being cut in search of $11 million in savings, but the majority of plans for health care in rural Manitoba remain up in the air.
In total, over $1.2 million in savings proposed by the region have been approved by the province, but the lion's share of the planning — including any clinical changes — remains unapproved and not implemented.
In March, all of the province's five health regions were told to cut costs by millions of dollars this year and lay off 15 per cent of their managers.
Prairie Mountain Health Region — which serves Brandon, Dauphin and other areas in the Westman region — has been told to find $17.5 million in savings this year, while the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority and the Northern Region Health Authority have been told to find $7 million and $5 million in savings, respectively.
While the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has undergone massive changes as part of its mandate to find $83 million in savings, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said any clinical changes that would include emergency rooms or hospitals in the other four RHAs won't be approved until early next year.
The province has recently announced the recruitment of more than 40 new doctors within the rural RHAs, which is expected to help ease these closures.
