Dr. Chandy Jacob is a name that has been associated with medical care in the Pembina Valley for over six decades.
Watching the area’s medical landscape develop over the years has led to his opinions about how healthcare functions in the region. While his views might be slightly uncomfortable to hear in some circles, his intention for sharing them so openly is to improve healthcare for everyone.
‘Nothing came without pushing’
In Dr. Jacob's view, the first step is to acknowledge the deficiencies in local medical services. The next step is taking action.
“I moved here in 1960 as the first specialist of any kind to move to southern Manitoba, so I have 64 years of experience practicing here,” he says. “Nothing came without pushing. Some people tend to think our medical care is adequate — it's not true.”
Dr. Jacob cites long wait times in the emergency room as one of the area's most obvious ongoing challenges. In his opinion, the care available in the Pembina Valley does not match its significance as the main provider in the region.
“The care hasn't improved to a level which it should be in a regional centre,” he says. “We cover for the other small hospitals, so it is important to get that regional centre up to level.”
So, what’s the solution?
For Dr. Jacob, a path forward involves establishing more healthcare services in the Pembina Valley region. He believes that if they were moved from large urban areas to rural communities, the government would save money, and the community would have better access.
He uses the ophthalmology as an example. While it is standard practice for rural Manitobans to travel to Winnipeg for a procedure like cataract surgery, he envisions a different option.
“Why can't we have an ophthalmologist come here? According to the statistics, 30,000 [people] should support [one] ophthalmologist. We have 60,000 in the Winkler-Morden-Stanley area, . . . so we could easily support two ophthalmologists here,” he says. “That's only one side. Lots of other things could be transferred from Winnipeg to [our] rural area [to] save the government money and people money.”
In Dr. Jacob’s view, the province hasn’t made this step because “they don’t get pushed enough.” He believes rural communities are too quiet when it comes to advocating for better possibilities.
“My concern is improving our public care, which could be done if there is knowledge, pressure, and the will to do it. If somebody doesn't make noise, nobody hears anything,” he says.
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With files from Robyn Wiebe