Problems with the hot water system at the Thompson General Hospital and trouble getting needed parts for repairs mean that some areas of the facility have been without hot water for more than a week.
When the issue will be resolved depends on when the parts arrive and there is currently no timeline for it to be fixed, according to the Northern Regional Health Authority.
NRHA spokesperson Twyla Storey told the Winnipeg Free Press that access to hot water has been inconsistent at the hospital for a few weeks and that supply chain problems have delayed the arrival of parts but that not services have been put on hold as a result.
“Patient safety is our priority and contingency plans and processes are in place to keep patients and staff safe until hot water issues have been fixed,” said Storey. “The Northern Health Region apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Flin Flon NDP MlA Tom Lindsey asked Health Minister Audrey Gordon about the issue in the legislature April 6 and questioned if it was a case of a double standard for different parts of the province.
“It’s unthinkable that a large hospital like Thompson would be left without hot water for any length of time,” said Lindsey. “Imagine the Health Sciences centre in Winnipeg trying to operate with no hot water. What makes Thompson General Hospital any less important to this minister and this government?”
Gordon said she was sure that plumbers and the NRHA mechanical team were working on the problem as she spoke.
“I have full faith in the staff at Thompson General Hospital,” she said. “The regional health authority has a strong leadership team and I’m sure it’s being looked at as we speak.”
Lindsey said he had written to Gordon about the issue the previous day.
NDP leader Wab Kinew told the Thompson Citizen April 7 that hot water is fundamental requirement for health care services.
“We’re talking bout a very, very basic thing,” he said “This just seems like such a basic function that it really ought to get addressed right away. Patients in Thompson and those visiting from the surrounding areas, at the very least, should be able to count on hot water being accessible. This just seems to be yet another example of northerners being asked to do with less when it comes to health care, and not getting the same level of service or the same kind of investments.”
The NDP leader also said it was unacceptable for news about the hot water situation to come to public attention from patients rather than the health authority.
“I think if you had a hospital in Winnipeg without hot water it’d be a major story, a major issue,” he said. “When we’ve seen [health facility] closures, there’s public notice. When we’ve seen changes to other health services, often there’s public notice. When it’s something that is going to affect quality of care, I think it would be reasonable to expect some kind of publicity around it. A bit of transparency here, in addition to just fixing the hot water itself, would have been the right approach.”
