Premier Wab Kinew was in Dauphin last week to mark the opening of a new CancerCare Manitoba (CCMB) space at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre (DRHC), which is providing an improved experience for patients and staff alike.

“Today’s announcement is about supporting this regional hospital, the health hub for this part of the Parkland region. It’s about ensuring that there’s more beds for people to be seen, more endoscopy services more CancerCare services,” Kinew said to those gathered at the Community Health Building boardroom. “But when we reduce all that to the base level and we ask ourselves what is this all about, this is about having more people in rural Manitoba - here’s our hope at the end of the day is that more people in rural Manitoba will hear those four magic words ‘you are cancer free.’ We want more families to be able to hear those words, to be able to spend more time with your loved ones and to be able to have a stronger healing journey through our health care system.”

The relocation of the hospital’s chemotherapy unit to the main floor provided the opportunity to construct a unit with five treatment bays which offer more space and more privacy, said Dr. Sri Navaratnam, president and chief executive officer of CancerCare Manitoba. The new unit also improves functionality through better nurse sight lines and enhanced medication preparation area and has two larger exam spaces.

“CancerCare Manitoba is always committed to quality and equitable care to all Manitobans, regardless of where they live or who they are. That is our promise. That is our commitment,” Navaratnam said. “So thank you for your support in making it happen.”

The new unit is already paying dividends according to front line works

“We’ve moved into this space a few weeks ago. It’s only been a few weeks, but we’ve had a lot of positive feedback from patients already, which is very encouraging,” said local physician Dr. Jason Reed, adding the number of cancer referrals to the local hospital has increase by 36 per cent since 2022. “We’re looking to further create additional inpatient and out patient capacity that won’t only benefit Dauphin, but the Parkland region as a whole.”

Improvements such as those being made at the DRHC are important, Dauphin MLA and Minister of Agriculture Ron Kostyshyn said, not only for the personal well-being of those living outside of the province’s major urban centres, but as an indication that they are not being overlooked by their government.

“People here in Dauphin and rural Manitoba work hard and deserve good quality health care that they need. Manitoba understand this,” he said. “We know how important it is to have timely, local access to health care.”

Even more capacity is coming as part of phase 2 of the renovation, which will result in a new endoscopy suite, which includes one new procedure room and six new spaces for pre-procedure preparation and post-procedure recovery. Once fully operational, up to 300 more endoscopies will be able to be performed at the DRHC annually, while also freeing up space in the facility’s operating rooms, increase surgical capacity.

Finally, phase 2 will see the addition of seven new medicine beds and two new general surgery beds on the second and third floors of the hospital and relocation of physiotherapy services from the basement to the third floor space previously occupied by the chemotherapy unit.

“We continue to look for ways to improve health care access and capacity within Prairie Mountain Health,” said the region’s CEO Brian Schoonbaert. “You can see there’s a bit of a domino effect here and it’s all great and we expect that this second phase will be done probably at the end of summer.”

Originally announced in 2021, the project had an initial budget of $5 million. The costs have since risen to $7.8 million mostly due to inflation and “ a commitment to seeing through an important investment here in the Parkland region, in the city of Dauphin,” Kinew said, adding, “our government has taken time to get things right.”

“We’re signaling to the front lines we’ve got your back, we’re going to continue leaning into investments like this one,” Kinew said. “And we are going to ensure that a strong future for health care in Manitoba includes strong rural health care in every region of the province.”

There is a strong divide in the Valley when it comes to the topic of a shelter in the community. There are some who that feel having a shelter in Swan River will only increase crime and encourage more people who are experiencing homelessness to come to the community. There are others who feel that there is a definite need to provide shelter to people who don’t have anywhere to sleep when the temperatures drop down to -30C below or colder.
In the neighbouring community of The Pas, Oscar’s Place is an emergency shelter that has been operating for quite some time. It’s had its challenges over the years with having enough funding to keep the doors open, but it’s also provided a safe place for those in need to keep out of the cold.
Town of The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy feels that having a shelter in the community is the social and morally right thing to do, but also wants more services in the community to help with the other issues that have led people to be homeless in the first place.
“It’s important to recognize that there are a group of individuals in our communities who are having issues with housing needs,” said Town of The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy. “It’s good to have a shelter because we don’t want people to freeze to death, but it has to be accompanied by complete wrap-around services to help with issues of addictions and mental health. Oscar’s Place is designated as an emergency shelter and is only supposed to be used by a person for a few days. Without the services to help people address what had led to the issue of homelessness, there is a possibility of people then treating the shelter as a residence, which then takes away from it becoming an emergency shelter.
“There are just not enough addiction supports for people in our community and there is no quick access to mental health supports either. There’s a definite gap to deal with here. I’ve spoken to people in the community who use the shelter and they’ve shared with me that they are struggling with addictions and want to get help, but there is over a three-week waiting period for them to get into addiction treatment. I’ve also heard others tell me they went for addiction treatment and came back here, which is their home community, and went back into the exact same environment they were in before, with no transitional housing or support to maintain sobriety. There were no supports to access housing, employment and sober living. So how does a community expect to break the cycle of homelessness, if we don’t have all the supports in place?”
Murphy doesn’t agree with the mentality of kicking people out of The Pas who are homeless. Many of the people experiencing homelessness are originally from the area, and Murphy also believes that people have the right to come and stay in a community if they choose to.
“We need to take care of people who are struggling and don’t want to see anyone freezing to death,” said Murphy.
“As human beings, we should have a heart and compassion to make sure no one freezes to death. As for those who say the homeless need to go back to where they came from, well those people who are homeless in our community are citizens of The Pas. They may have come from somewhere else, but if they choose to come to our community and want to stay here, then that’s where they live.
“As the Town of The Pas, or Opaskwayak Cree Nation or the R.M. of Kelsey, we can’t take care of the homelessness situation on our own; we need more support.”
The Pas also runs a soup kitchen through The Pas Friendship Centre. The Pas Friendship Centre is very familiar with the homeless population in the community and believes that Oscar’s Place is a definite need in the area.
“Oscar’s Place saves lives, plain and simple,” said The Pas Friendship Centre Executive Director Doug Bartlett. “The weather in northern Manitoba, being what it is, takes a toll on the homeless population. Oscar’s Place provides up to 26 people, with a warm place to spend the night.
“That being said, I believe the shelter could be twice as big and there would not be enough room for all the homeless population. Another concern was that Oscar’s Place was not open during the day, however, this has been rectified. The homeless population can now attend the shelter from 3:30 p.m., and this will be until the cold snap has ended.”
Bartlett doesn’t believe a shelter is a drawing card for more homeless people to come to a community. There is a lack of affordable housing all across Manitoba, and it gets particularly worse, more north of the province.
“I do not believe having a shelter in our community is the reason so many people are coming to The Pas and find themselves homeless,” said Bartlett. “What has been a major factor in the homeless issue in our and every other community in the north, is the lack of housing. Many people that come to our community are here because there are 12 to 18 people living in the same house in their home community.
“They come to the larger community of The Pas and soon find themselves on the streets. Then the addictions take over. The longer they are on the streets, the harder it is to intervene and provide services. Many of the homeless population have been walking the streets here for many years, and this is their community too.”
The Pas Friendship Centre realized that if people don’t have a place to keep warm in the community, then they also do not have food to sustain them. Recently, The Pas Friendship Centre expanded its soup kitchen from its building into a separate one on LaRose Avenue.
“The soup kitchen provides the homeless population a warm meal once a day,” said Bartlett. “For many of them, this is the only meal they will have that day. While they are at the soup kitchen, there is an opportunity to provide them with information and services.
“These can range from assistance with health information to having clothing provided. We have both a Health Navigator and a Homeless Navigator on staff to assist them. As well, we also have a Homeless Mentor who works directly with the community homeless. One of the impacts on the community is there are fewer people roaming the streets when the soup kitchen is open. We do however have rules such as, if you are intoxicated in any way, you will not be allowed in.”
Bartlett shares many of the same views as Murphy when it comes to the need for wrap-around services in the community to help reduce homelessness, addictions, poverty and crime.
“The staff at The Pas Friendship Centre have a very trying job,” said Bartlett. “ We cannot let our personal biases dictate our actions in how we work with the community homeless people. The staff have developed relationships with our homeless clients on a basic level that understand that they are where they are and can move forward from there.
“To address the homelessness in northern communities, it comes down to providing housing and addiction treatment services that are based in the north. Sending people south for treatment and then returning them to the same situation they left will not bring the client to a place where they are able to stay clean and sober.
“Addiction to substances has been classified as a medical disease by Health Canada,” said Bartlett. “Too often communities choose to ignore this and blame the addict with the age-old adage that if they had a moral compass, they wouldn’t do drugs. It’s this type of nonsense that has been detrimental to addictions for years.
“Even when an addict has gotten treatment, there are so few rental spaces in this community that individuals end up on the streets and after a few weeks, they fall back to old patterns and ways of living. As a community, we need to come to the realization that housing is a major factor in homelessness.”

The HERO Club held an open house on Thursday afternoon (Jan. 25), inviting guests and potential members into their space to learn what they’re all about and what is available in the clubhouse. The HERO Club – which stands for Helping Everyone Reach Out – was established to provide a place where people who have lived with mental health issues could meet and socialize in a non-judgemental atmosphere of friendship and support...

There has been a growing number of producers in the area who have concerns about wildlife impacting their farming operations. One concern locals have is the number of elk in the area, which leads to the risk of TB and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), and the impact on livestock and crops.

“There are some public health risks with TB and CWD for it spreads quickly in herd animals such as elk and cattle,” said Andy Addis, who has launched a petition calling on the government to do something about the number of elk in the area.

Read all about it in this week’s Review.

An inadequate workforce is a problem in most jurisdictions, including here in the Parkland, but a group of area municipalities have banded together to help address the problem in the area.

The Municipality of Roblin, Grandview Municipality, the Municipality of Gilbert Plains, Mossey River Municipality, the Municipality of Ste Rose and the City and the RM of Dauphin each provided $3,500 in seed money to run a one-year pilot project aimed at recruiting skilled workers and matching them directly with employment in the area.

Find out more in this week’s issue.

Police would like to remind people, to NOT leave your keys in your vehicles, do NOT leave them running with the keys in them. In the last two months, there have been several vehicles stolen from the Roblin area.
We need to do our part in keeping our vehicles safe, by not giving thieves the opportunity to steal them by leaving the keys in them.

Find out what’s been keeping police busy in this week’s RCMP report.

Municipalities all across Manitoba are looking for more cost-effective ways of doing things, while maintaining a certain standard level of service. Recycling costs have been a topic of discussion for all Manitoba municipalities... how to recoup the costs of operating recycling services in each community, which has been a growing challenge.

Mult-Material Stewardship Manitoba (MMSM) has a draft plan proposal to spearhead and manage recycling in the province and take it off municipalities’ plates.

Check out the rest of the story in this week’s Review.

On January 19, 2024, at approximately 3:50 pm, The Pas RCMP responded to a serious stabbing incident in the 300 block of Edwards Avenue. Two people were severely injured.
No further reports of violence have been received. However, one or more suspects remain at large. The RCMP is asking residents of The Pas and area to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity.
The investigation is in its very early stages and police remain on scene at this time. People are asked to avoid the area if possible and motorists are asked to be aware of emergency personnel working on scene.
When this incident occurred, there were many people in the vicinity, and police would like to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident and saw something.

This winter has been one for the books, when it came to warmer than average temperatures in December and very little snow. Winter may be catching up, but the lack of snow on the ground in tri-community has put a major Trappers’ Festival event on the backburner for this year. This year the Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival (NMTF) board of directors had the difficult decision to cancel this year’s World Championship Dog Sled Races due to a lack of snow.
“Since 1948, the World Championship Dog Sled Races have only been cancelled for a day or two, due to warming weather resulting in the trail melting,” said Kinsmen Dog Race Chair Mike Roberts. “The races have not been cancelled in their entirety, other than in 2021, as a result of the pandemic. The race's start times have, in some years, been pushed back due to extreme cold temperatures. This is done in consultation with the mushers, for the safety of the dogs and mushers.

When a child gets sick or has a traumatic birth, people in the community step up to show support in a variety of ways. Last year, baby Theo Derry was born premature and faced some uncertain odds in the days ahead.
“My great-grandson Theo was such a premature baby that when he was born, he was only 23 weeks and four days,” said Theo’s Great-Grandmother Julie Bell. “If he had been at 22 weeks, they wouldn’t have even likely tried to save him. He just was passed that time and the wonderful staff at St. Boniface Hospital saved his life.”
Theo’s mother Breanna Mault, was fortunate to have her family there to support her and her children during this turn of events.
“My daughter, Jennifer, and I took care of the three other children that Breanna has, while she and Theo’s father stayed in Winnipeg at the Ronald McDonald House,” said Bell. “The Ronald McDonald House was a complete saviour to them at that time. We travelled back and forth to Winnipeg for quite some time.”
Theo’s family began to see progress in his development, which was very promising and gave them all hope for a positive outcome. Theo has progressed immensely but still is working on muscle development.
“One of the things that gave us hope in the beginning, is that Theo took to eating the special formula from the start,” said Bell. “Within the first month, he was able to eliminate properly, which meant that some of his organs had already started developing properly. He is doing really well with most things but isn’t sitting up on his own yet, because now he is starting to develop muscles. Theo is just a little slower at crawling because of muscle development.
“Theo is showing promising signs and he is a responsive baby. He has had one laser surgery to correct his peripheral vision, which they say can improve as he grows.”
As a result of Theo needing to be in close contact with medical professionals and therapy services, Breanna and her children have had to move to Winnipeg to ensure they have consistent access to care. The move has come with some challenges, as it keeps Breanna from having her mother and grandmother close by for support.
“Breanna has another son, before Theo, that was born premature, so she knows a lot about the exercises that need to be done to help him develop those muscles,” said Bell.
“She needs to be here in the city where she has those supports close by and access to the doctors. Breanna and her children have since moved to Winnipeg because Theo still needs some care and services that are much more accessible in the city. Theo is now just over a year old as of Jan. 2, and weighs about 15 lbs.. He’s eating well and has specialists that he has to see regularly to check on his development. His brother and sister just love Theo and being with him.”
Bell is in awe of how the medical field has progressed, especially when it comes to the care and treatment of premature babies. In a short span of time, there has been so much progress in this field and thanks to that innovation, it has helped babies like Theo reach their targeted goals for development.
“It’s just amazing the amount of innovation and improvement they have done in the health and science field over the last few years,” said Bell. “Theo should not have survived with the kinds of odds he was facing, but it’s amazing how far he has come along.
“He’s a very content baby and has the biggest grin you’ve ever seen. Theo likes to be in his swing, and once his neck muscles are a little stronger, they will put him in a special chair to give him support and continue that muscle growth. He spends a lot of time on the floor doing special exercises to build those muscles.”
Bell, her daughter, granddaughter and family are truly moved by the generosity and caring of the people in Valley during their time of need. People showed incredible support through donations which helped the family out during all of Theo’s medical needs.
“There are times where it’s difficult for Breanna to be out there with the three kids, but we are all so grateful to the people of the Swan Valley,” said Bell. “Some money was raised through the GoFundMe page and we had jars up in the community, which also brought in more donations to help out. Two local service clubs, the Lions and the Kinsmen, also donated.
“I can’t say enough about the people in the Valley; they’re just amazing. It not only helped in that first month but helped carry through afterwards. Breanna is still unable to work as she is providing the care that Theo needs. She still has some time left on her maternity leave, but that will be running out soon and she will have to look at other options.”