April 6, 2022

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As part of Budget 2022, the Manitoba government is committing over $15 million in initial funding to support the implementation of the 17 recommendations of the Stevenson Review to strengthen care and enhance capacity at long-term care facilities throughout the province, Premier Heather Stefanson and Seniors and Long-term Care Minister Scott Johnston announced today.

“Manitoba seniors have worked hard, sacrificed for their families and given back to their communities, and they deserve compassion and dignified care,” said Stefanson. “Our government is committed to strengthening Manitoba’s long-term care system and Budget 2022 will provide significant investment to support our promise to Manitobans. Today we are reaffirming our commitment to see all 17 recommendations of the Stevenson Review fully implemented, and we will continue to build on the work that is well underway and make significant improvements for families, residents and staff, and most importantly, our seniors in long-term care.”

 “Over the past year, teams of people and organizations have worked diligently to develop action and implementation plans in response to all recommendations outlined in the initial report,” said Johnston. “Following a year-long stakeholder consultation and planning process, significant provincial investments will be made over the next six years, including an initial $15 million this year alone, to address deficiencies identified in the report.”

The over $15 million in initial funding will support the following:

• enhancing infection prevention and control within the long-term care sector, which includes a provincial program manager, regional leads and 50 infection control staff;
• more than 200 full-time equivalent housekeeping staff as well the first phase of allied health staffing, 44 full-time equivalents; and
• improvements to information and communication technology to better support operations and patient care.

Over $260,000 in additional funding will also strengthen capacity for quality and standards officers as well as Protection for Persons in Care Office capacity, the premier noted. This funding will also support better integration of personal care homes within the broader health system by permanently establishing a provincial personal care home liaison to lead stakeholders in developing and maintaining a better system of communication, planning and collaboration across the health-care delivery system.

The province also released the final report of the Stevenson Review, an independent external report following a serious COVID-19 outbreak at the Maples Long Term Care Home between Oct. 20, 2020 and Jan. 12, 2021. Seventy-three staff and 157 residents tested positive, and 54 residents died. The government commissioned an external review, led by Dr. Lynn Stevenson, and accepted all of the report’s 17 recommendations for action.

Four themes are highlighted in the review: resident safety, staffing compliments, infectious disease and pandemic preparedness, and communication with families and staff.

Among the system improvements already underway, the report highlights:

• Establishing an overall staffing plan to stabilize staff compliments for personal care homes (PCH). The staffing plan commits to increases for direct-care nursing, health-care aides, allied health staff, Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) staff and housekeeping.
• Over the next year, new staff will be hired and trained to lead and implement the IPAC plan. Gaps are being addressed across the program and standardization of policies and procedures are underway.
• Improved processes are now in place to address cross-system communication issues. A medical long-term care leadership structure has been created to provide consistent medical guidance and communications between provincial medical leads, regional medical leaders and medical leads in PCH.
• Advancing health resource planning to address infection control and addressing long standing staffing challenges in PCH are driving priorities for the Department of Seniors and Long-term Care.

Collectively, the responses and action plans stemming from the Stevenson Review are establishing a stronger foundation to rebuild Manitobans’ confidence in both the province’s and the private sector’s PCH system, the minister noted.

On Feb. 6, 2021, Stefanson, who was Health and Seniors Care Minister at the time, accepted all the report’s findings and recommendations. The direction provided to the Stevenson Review project team was to develop action plans for and to implement each of the 17 recommendations outlined in the external review while applying a provincial lens that encompassed all licensed PCH within Manitoba, regardless of ownership or governance structures.

To help prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future, the Manitoba government formed the department of Seniors and Long-Term Care to focus clearly on these priorities and to give additional structure and leadership to the Stevenson Review recommendations.

Stefanson and Johnston noted the Manitoba government extends heartfelt condolences to all the families who lost loved ones living in the province’s personal care homes during the pandemic.

To view the final Stevenson Review and learn more about the province’s response, visit: www.gov.mb.ca/health/maples_review.html.

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