To: Hon. Brian Pallister - Premier of Manitoba
To: Hon. Kelvin Goertzen - Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living

Community Health Centres (CHCs) have been called “Medicare’s best kept secret”. They provide a triple bottom line solution: improved individual health, improved community and population health, and more cost-effective healthcare and social service systems.

CHCs provide health care through a team approach where nurse practitioners, family physicians, nurses, counselors, and other care providers ensure that people receive the timely care they need. They also integrate these care services with a wide-range of health promotion programs, social services, and community health initiatives that help individuals, families, and communities prevent illness and stay well. CHCs are also a particularly valuable resource for rural and remote communities where there are increased challenges in recruiting healthcare providers, ensuring continuous care, and providing a wider range of health and social services.

Despite their impact and track record in Canada and other countries, Community Health Centres are still only available to a fraction of individuals, families and communities in Manitoba, largely in the City of Winnipeg. I urge the Government of Manitoba to invest in existing and new Community Health Centres throughout the province to improve health and health care for residents of our province.

cc:

Hon. Heather Stefanson
Minister of Justice and Attorney General

Hon. Cameron Friesen
Minister of Finance

Hon. Ian Wishart
Minister of Education and Training

Hon. Scott Fielding
Minister of Families

Hon. Blaine Pedersen
Minister of Infrastructure

Hon. Eileen Clarke
Minister of Indigenous and Municipal Relations

Hon. Cathy Cox
Minister of Sustainable Development

Karen Herd
Deputy Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living

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