Right in the centre - Neepawa, Minnedosa, we have a problem
- Details
- Published on Friday, February 26, 2016
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
Yes, you read the headline correctly. WE have a problem.
In 1995, the communities of Morden and Winkler were down in doctor numbers. I have been told there were as few as five or six in each community. The medical clinics were scattered and out of date. Today, I am told there are over 30-40 doctors in each community. Both towns have modern, community owned clinics. Both clinics are taking on new patients, both have extended hours walk-in clinics. You get the picture. Neepawa has a small community based clinic and an independent clinic with a total of seven doctors. According to news reports, Minnedosa has one doctor currently and a small privately owned clinic. Neither clinic does walk-in and neither are taking new clients. There are published blueprints for a community owned clinic in Minnedosa. Recruitment is ongoing in Neepawa with very slow but positive results. Recruitment in Minnedosa looks like it’s been left to the health region and the RHA efforts have pretty much emptied every clinic in western Manitoba. It may not be totally the fault of the RHA but the net result is the same and it’s deplorable.
Neepawa and Minnedosa, along with all the surrounding towns and municipalities that are part of the two town catchment areas, certainly don’t have the population of Winkler and Morden, I get that, but the proportions don’t even come close.
The combined population of Winkler and Morden is 18,842 with about 65 doctors. The combined population of Neepawa and Minnedosa is 6,216 with eight doctors. You get the picture. Neepawa and Minnedosa have not kept up. The blame lies in three places. One is with the town and area councils. To say that the Neepawa and Minnedosa area councils have been slow to respond to almost everything, would be a huge understatement. The blame also lies with the RHA. Our regional health authority has centred on Brandon and thank God we have as much medical service as we do in Brandon. However, the RHA has not looked after the rural areas all that well. The third group to be blamed is all of us. We have allowed the councils and the RHA to be lethargic and lacking in imagination. For our area to be so far behind Winkler and Morden is unconscionable. When it takes Neepawa council 20 years to build a farm shed (sorry, firehall) and it takes Minnedosa 10 years to start building a medical clinic, we have a problem in our two towns.
We have had mostly old people on our councils. (Full disclosure, I am 67 years old and have been mayor of Neepawa twice.) In spite of how progressive minded our councillors have been as individuals, when they form a council, they have been dead from the belt in both directions. Investment has come to Neepawa and Minnedosa because of location and accident and in spite of our councils, not because of them. Neepawa council has been sitting on borrowing capacity and on reserves for decades. If they had built the firehall when it was needed 20 years ago, it would have been built for half a million dollars or less and it would have been paid for 10 years ago. Now they are talking $2 million and it’s still not even at the blueprint stage.
To each town’s credit, there have been some bright spots, certainly, the Neepawa medical clinic has been a success, but it could be much more. Minnedosa’s ag grounds development is slowly coming along, but it too could be so much more.
It grieves me to see the lost potential in both communities, but until we break the complacency and the lack of vision, the two towns are doomed to a passive mediocre decline.
It’s time to turn off the televisions folks. It’s time to get involved in groups, organizations and local politics. It’s a call to action. I am tired of old and old-thinking councils. It’s time for some 25 or 35 year old councillors. We need the wisdom and we need the experience, yes, but we need some fresh vision and drive.
As I said at the top of the page, WE have a problem. Just remember, younger people, it will likely be your problem a lot longer than it will be mine. It’s time for the 20 and 30 year olds to speak up and get involved to a much higher degree. Thankfully, some are, but there’s a lot more involvement needed in our two districts.
