Privatization an option for WRHA as it searches for $83M in savings

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority's CEO says everything is on the table, includingprivatizingservices, as the health region workstofulfila mandate by the Manitobagovernment to find $83million in savings in the coming year.

MiltonSussmanwarned that while theWRHAwill maintain a high quality of care, he cannot guarantee that jobs won't be lost andWinnipeggerswon't feel the impact of such a lofty goal.

"I think it's safe to say there will be changes. There has to be to achieve that kind of savings,"Sussmantold CBC News Friday.

The CBC first reported Wednesday that all five of Manitoba's health regions have been told bythe province to balance theirbooks and find savings for 2017-18.

• Tories tell Manitoba health regions to find millions in savings in 2017

Each region was given a savings target by the government that it must achieve as part of that mandate. For theWRHA, it's $83 million.

"It is a large number.I don't want to convey that there may not be staff impacts, but we haven't assessed what those might be,"Sussmansaid.

In 2016-17, its $2.6 billion budgetis projected to wind up $30 million in the red.

Theprivatizationof services, includingMRI scansand cataract surgeries, isn't off the table, butSussmansaid the health authorityisstill analysing its options and wading through savings proposals from various programsbefore any decisions are made.

"I don't want to speculate that it is something that is going to happen. What I am saying is we are looking at a whole range of options and if someone can provide a high quality at a lower cost, we have to consider those kinds of things," he said.

"Where is makes sense, it might be something we look at."

Executive and management positions will be the first positions theWRHAlooks at before it delves into cutting any other positions, he said.

"If we were going to do anything, that is where we would start."

Advice fromKPMG

Sussmanhas seen the much-anticipated interim reviewfromKPMG, the consultant group charged by the Progressive Conservative governmentto find savings and efficiencies in the province's health care system.

• Manitoba hires consulting firm to find 'waste, inefficiency' in health-care system

He couldn't go into details about what the report entails, but said it identified "significant savings" that could be found in the system mostly in staffing.

That includes staffing levels, overtime and the the overuse of "constant care" a form of supervision that requires a staff member to provide one-on-one care.

"Those are things we are looking at. We are looking at a variety of options, nothing has been finalized," he said.

The review will be used to make decisions for the upcoming April 11 budget and won't be released until after that date, Premier Brian Pallister told media Thursday.

• Provincial budget to be tabled April 11

Sussman said he wasn't surprised by the findings in the interim review.The first part focused on identifying the potential for savings andthe second stage whichhe hasn't seen is about putting together a formal plan to tackle those savings, he said.

Health Minister KelvinGoertzenadmitted it will be a challenge for theWRHAto find the savings, but said the search for savings in health care is happeningacrossthe country.

"We know that the system was unsustainable in the way that it was growing,so we had discussions with each regional health authority,"Goertzensaid Thursday after question period.

"They are going through that process now to look at places where there might be the ability to reduce management, which is certainly one of the places that has to get looked at they'll look for duplication of programs and I am sure they will look at places where we are doing things that might not be done in other provinces."