Health committee  Thank you. “One or two hits of meth will last you hours and hours and keep you up for days. With opioids, you can totally predict what the course of treatment is going to be. We can totally handle anyone going through opioid withdrawal. With meth, in the blink of an eye it swit

Health committee  I think what we recognize is that meth is a different drug than opioids. It is incredibly addictive, it is incredibly accessible and it is inexpensive. We understand that the treatment for someone struggling with a meth addiction is going to have to be totally different from some

Health committee  Our emergency departments have been closed. We've lost two and we're going to lose a third one, which is going to mean our city has three access points for emergency. One issue we've identified is that the Health Sciences Centre is in the core of the city. Many residents who liv

Health committee  I'll try to be brief. Brevity would be my friend. I think we definitely need to look at specific training for meth-related issues for hospital personnel, and that is much bigger than violence prevention. We need to talk about how to safely protect yourself and your other patient

Health committee  Although the Manitoba Nurses Union does not have a position on decriminalization, our nurses believe that we need to treat. We need to be there to provide treatment and get patients healthy. Putting them in jail doesn't solve that issue.

Health committee  I'm going to tell you a fast story, and I know I'm not always fast. I talked to a nurse from the neonatal intensive care unit, where they're seeing many babies coming from addicted moms, and what she was telling me is that women with addictions will get pregnant to jump the queue

Health committee  We're definitely seeing it in our emergency departments now. It's sort of changed the game, because Winnipeg no longer has a catchment area for ambulances, so if there's a client in the core area who's two blocks away from the Health Sciences Centre and an ambulance is called, th

Health committee  I don't have statistics for you but I do know that having a needle exchange program or providing safe injection sites, absolutely, there will be a cost, but it will be an efficiency and will save dollars in the end. When you have someone who's using meth, who's injecting and need

Health committee  I speak to nurses. Those are the individuals I get information from, and I can tell them they are wrong. This is a crisis that is getting bigger every day. I have nurses who don't even want to go to work anymore. I actually had a nurse say to me, “I know every day when I go to wo

Health committee  I think it's accurate to say, but unfortunately there's no other access point for these patients who are wrestling with this drug. We have no other options.

Health committee  I believe there should be. I think the RAAM clinics are a really good start. They've been started with our government, but at this point, they're not able to look after someone in a meth-induced psychosis. Those clients have to go to an emergency department to receive treatment.

Health committee  I don't remember saying that, but I'll speak to that. I do know that many of our treatment beds have a 21- or 28-day program, with huge relapse. For alcohol use, drug use or gambling there is huge relapse. The programs are not long enough to actually get the patient to the point

Health committee  I've been thinking a lot about that. One of the criticisms is that so many people go to the emergency department or Health Sciences Centre with issues that are not true emergencies. There is probably merit in that. Those clients are better served being seen at perhaps a quick car

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  I don't believe so. The Concordia Hospital's emergency department will be closed in June. They'll have an attached walk-in clinic. I do not believe that the three emergency departments in Winnipeg are going to be adequately staffed and will able to handle all the emergencies. W