Lifeflight doctors delay walkout for two weeks

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This article was published 28/12/2018 (2092 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s air ambulance doctors will not walk off the job Jan. 1 as previously suggested, the Free Press has learned.

A source with knowledge of the situation said the doctors have given the province another two weeks in January to propose plans for Lifeflight.

In July, the government took a step toward privatizing government air services, publishing a request for proposal (RFP) for companies to bid on contracts to operate Lifeflight and the province’s fire-fighting water bombers.

The wildfire-suppression services contract was awarded to Babcock Canada in November, but a decision on Lifeflight isn’t expected until early 2019.

The 24-hour air ambulance service and its medical staff take from 400 to 500 trips per year. Staff care for critically ill or injured Manitobans during transport in areas outside a 200-kilometre radius of Winnipeg.

As the province continues the RFP process, the cohort of 16 Lifeflight doctors will stay put, for the time being.

On Nov. 26, Dr. Renate Singh, the medical director for Lifeflight, told provincial Health Minister Cameron Friesen the doctors were considering resigning en masse next year if the province carried on with plans to privatize air ambulances.

While the province mulls its options, it has made some improvements to Lifeflight services, Friesen said.

In a prepared statement Thursday, the minister said recruitment for two Lifeflight pilots is underway, and about $750,000 in work has been approved to maintain two of the province’s jets.

“We are optimistic that these initiatives will reassure all Manitobans, including Lifeflight physicians, of our ongoing commitment to patient and provider safety,” Friesen said.

“This level of commitment will be maintained regardless of how the request for proposal process proceeds.”

However, the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, which represents Lifeflight nurses and pilots, wants more clarity from government.

MGEU president Michelle Gawronsky wrote Friesen on Dec. 12, requesting a meeting, and said Thursday she had yet to hear back from him.

“I don’t understand why this government isn’t stepping up and stating that (Lifeflight) will remain the way it is to alleviate any fears from Manitobans anywhere that these services could be at risk for them,” Gawronsky said.

“To me, if the doctors aren’t there, does that means these planes are grounded? And what happens to the patients? What happens to the people that need these services?

“This is huge.”

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @_jessbu