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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