People from Flin Flon, Man., and nearby communities have started a health committee, looking to improve care and cut provincial border-related red tape.
The seven-member committee was announced earlier this month, and includes elected officials and members of the public from Flin Flon, as well as the nearby Saskatchewan communities of Creighton, Denare Beach and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation.
The group wants to bring more staff and services to Flin Flon General Hospital, including a CT scanner and a return of birthing services, which were cut in 2018 due to low staffing levels.
The committee says one of its main goals is to provide better care to Saskatchewan residents. As a border community, Flin Flon’s hospital is a hub for people living in both northwestern Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
However, people living in the Saskatchewan side of Flin Flon, and in Creighton, Denare Beach or other northeastern Saskatchewan communities, sometimes can’t access the same care as their Manitoba neighbours.
The hospital often doesn’t have access to Saskatchewan patients’ medical records. Many need to bring their own data for appointments.
Sometimes, when care is needed, access can be blocked altogether, say patients like Maureen McBratney, who lives in Denare Beach, Sask., about 20 kilometres away from Flin Flon.
In June 2023, McBratney’s kidneys failed and she was taken to Saskatoon for treatment. When her condition improved, she was ready to return home and start dialysis at the ward in Flin Flon.
The border got in the way.
“I was ready for actual discharge to come home and was told, unfortunately, I was not allowed to get dialysis at the Flin Flon General Hospital because I was a Saskatchewan resident and it’s in Manitoba, which is literally a 20-minute drive from my home,” she said.
“I was kind of hooped.”
That began a months-long ordeal for McBratney and her family. She and her husband, Greg, moved to Saskatoon for dialysis, while family and friends wrote letters and requested meetings with Manitoba and Saskatchewan health officials.
McBratney was finally able to move back home the following February. The Flin Flon hospital was recognized by the Saskatchewan Health Authority and Manitoba’s Northern Health Region, which operates the hospital, as a Saskatchewan satellite site.
That allowed McBratney to receive treatment near home after eight months away.
‘Absolutely negligent’
Struggles like hers are one of the main reasons why the committee was started.
Committee chair Dan Hlady is on Creighton’s town council. When he moved to the Saskatchewan town in 2007, residents there were able to access care at the Flin Flon hospital with minimal issues, he said. In the nearly two decades since, that’s changed.
“The Manitoba side accepted us as a region, and over the years it progressed to, ‘no, it’s out of your territory. No, it’s not our jurisdiction,'” he said.
“We are one region, and to see that, it’s disheartening for sure.”
Alison Dallas-Funk, Flin Flon’s deputy mayor, is also on the committee, and says Saskatchewan residents need to have access to northern care.
“The idea that the service is there and that they’re not treated the same is absolutely negligent,” she said.
Dallas-Funk said having to travel long distances to get health care, especially for services that are nearby but inaccessible, unnecessarily costs northerners money and time.
“We cross borders in our daily life. Everybody in this community crosses that provincial border, whether you’re coming in for school, shopping, recreation,” said Dallas-Funk.
“If you’re crossing that border for health care, it shouldn’t matter at a provincial level,” she said, adding the group wants to meet with both Manitoba and Saskatchewan’s health ministers.
“They need to have those conversations. They’re costing their taxpayers dollars and taking away money. It’s about services and safety and quality of life, and being equitable and fair for the north.”
‘Open to future discussions’: health authority
In a statement to CBC, a Northern Health Region spokesperson said it wasn’t involved with the committee, but would listen to suggestions from it.
The health authorityย “is aware of a recentlyย establishedย regionalย healthย committeeย in the Flin Flon areaย that is a grassroots volunteer group, independent of the NHR organization,” said the spokesperson.
The health authority “appreciate[s] the interest of community members in localย healthย services,” and is “open to future discussions,” they said.
Dallas-Funk says she wants change before another family falls through the cracks.
“We all have this feeling that something bad is going to happen until something changes. We have the capacity to have all of these things, and yet we don’t have them,” she said.
McBratney said she hopes others won’t have to go through what she faced.
“There’s lots of cross-border issues that are just so silly,” she said.ย
“Common sense, to me, has just kind of taken a back seat to politicians and the rules of engagement.”
