A committee being supported by the Thompson Seniors Community Resource Council (TSCRC) is compiling data to make a case for the return of medical foot care to the north.
Led by Barb Henderson, Carole Parenteau, Bev Krueger and Doris Palmer, the committee has hired two university students to do most of the research through a federally sponsored program and intends to launch a petition to help support their case.
Among the information that will be presented to the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) and the minister of health are population figures, the incidence of diabetes in Thompson and the surrounding region compared to the rest of the province and the cost of foot care in comparison with amputation and rehabilitation.
Late Thompson MLA Danielle Adams had been working with the committee before her death to help ensure that the petition would get the attention of the province and that work has been continued by NDP leader Wab Kinew.
"Seniors and families in Northern Manitoba deserve healthcare in their home communities, but the PCs just keep making cuts,” Kinew said in a statement to the Thompson Citizen. “The loss of the foot care clinic will lead to worse outcomes for northerners down the road – and that's unacceptable. The Manitoba NDP caucus has been working with the community to get this petition ready to present in the legislature. We're proud to support and amplify the voices of this grassroots healthcare initiative and we’re calling on the health minister and the PCs to restore the Thompson foot care clinic immediately."
Thompson used to have two foot care nurses that covered the NRHA area, but the positions were not filled following retirements. Now Winnipeg is the only place in Manitoba with foot care, says the TSCRC committee, which was formed following a meeting in late November that was attended by 35 people.
The committee also intends to lobby the NRHA for the return of in-person exercise programming for seniors in Thompson. Before the COVID pandemic, this programming was offered three times per week. After the pandemic began, it changed to increase space between participants and then became a Zoom program, which Parenteau says many seniors aren’t comfortable with. The committee wants to see in-person programming with a qualified instructor reinstated because it is important for injury prevention as well as physical and mental health. Having an instructor in the same space as the participants also helps them to better observe the effects of exercise on the people taking part.
Another issue the committee said it wanted to address when it was formed back in November was the hours the walking track at the C.A. Nesbitt was open. At times since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has only been open in the early morning and late afternoon and evening, which Turiff said were unsuitable times for seniors in terms of personal safety and physical abilities. Recently, the track has usually been open in the afternoon. For the week of Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, it was scheduled to be open 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. or 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. two days each and the only days it would not be open in the early and mid afternoon were Jan. 31, when it opened at 3:30 p.m., and Feb. 6, when it will be closed from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. due to a Norman Northstars hockey game.
For more information on the TSCRC, the committee or if you would like to sign the petition or help obtain signatures, email [email protected] or phone 204-677-0987.
