The head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the chief of Dakota Plains First Nation have joined the chorus of calls to include an MRI machine at the new hospital that’s being built in Portage la Prairie.
Grand Chief Cathy Merrick on Friday called for municipal and provincial governments to include First Nations governments in the discussion about diagnostic services at the Portage Regional Health Centre, which is expected to open next year.
That’s after 35 Portage doctors called on the NDP government to include a magnetic resonance imaging machine in the new hospital. It would benefit the 13,00o residents of the city west of Winnipeg as well as four neighbouring First Nations that have faced longstanding disparities in health care, they said in a letter to Premier Wab Kinew that was obtained by the Free Press.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILE
Grand Chief Cathy Merrick on Friday called for municipal and provincial governments to include First Nations governments in the discussion about diagnostic services at the Portage Regional Health Centre, which is expected to open next year.
“Addressing these disparities is not just about improving health care access, it’s about ensuring governments work with First Nations leadership to uphold our distinct inherent and treaty rights,” Merrick said in a news release.
“We cannot achieve true reconciliation without dismantling systemic barriers that hinder our access to culturally safe health care,” she said.
Dakota Plains Chief Donny Smoke said Friday that an MRI in Portage would go a long way towards reconciliation and reducing the gap in life expectancy — 11 years less for First Nations people than non-Indigenous people.
“It starts with things such as having an MRI accessible to our people,” Smoke said.
The push for an MRI has the support of the local hospital foundation, which has earmarked $5 million for one.
Area businesses are circulating a petition calling for an MRI. Progressive Conservative MLA Jeff Bereza is leading the lobbying efforts.
This week, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said plans for the new hospital, announced in 2021 by the former PC government, didn’t include an MRI. The NDP government has since done its “due diligence,” the minister said, and determined that now is not the right time for Portage to get one, based on evidence and expert advice about “where health infrastructure and technology needs to be.”
Smoke said he signed the petition asking for an MRI.
Many Dakota Plains community members don’t feel comfortable or safe going to Brandon, Winnipeg or Boundary Trails Health Centre between Morden and Winkler for an MRI, so they won’t go, he said
“Our people are very familiar with Portage,” Smoke said. “We have a rich history there as a Dakota people. They feel comfortable there.”
Transportation to farther-away appointments is also a challenge, he said.
The chief said a survey was done that showed most Dakota Plains residents don’t have a driver’s licence or reliable transportation. In addition, the First Nation has just one van to take people to medical appointments.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILE Health minister Uzoma Asagwara said plans for the new hospital, announced in 2021 by the former PC government, didn’t include an MRI. The NDP government has since done its “due diligence,” and determined that now is not the right time for Portage to get one.
“We fully support the MRI coming to Portage la Prairie,” Smoke said. “It will make our lives easier and will cater to our people who want to stay close to home, their safe space.”
Calls for an MRI now — three years after the new hospital was announced — has nothing to do with a change in the provincial government and everything to do with local reconciliation efforts, the chief said.
“There’s a lot happening in a good way.” For example, Portage la Prairie city council formally apologized last month to the Dakota people for a 1911 bylaw that forbid them from living in the city.
“The future is looking positive. We just have to work together and learn from history,” Smoke said.
“Truth and reconciliation are big words. We have to put some action to them.”
Merrick said health systems are rooted in colonial values and racist ideologies, and profoundly impact the health and wellness of First Nations people across the province.
“Colonization’s legacy manifests as significant health challenges, loss of language and culture, and marginalization,” she said.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
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