Manitobans living near U.S. border suffering as COVID-19 orders impact health care, reeve says

Travel restrictions due to COVID-19 have upended health care for many people in southeast Manitoba who cross the U.S. border to see their family doctors.

And with Tuesday's announcement that the international border will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least Feb. 21, people in the rural municipality of Piney are leaning on the provincial government to help them out.

"What it does is it makes people once again have to make decisions about … their primary health care," said RM of Piney Deputy Reeve David Beaudry.

The nearest hospital for many in the community of Piney, in the southern part of the rural municipality, is in Roseau, Minn. There's also a medical clinic in Warroad, Minn. Both are a short drive across the border.

Manitoba has a long-standing arrangement that allows residents in border towns to access emergency health care in the Minnesota communities.

Although travel for medical reasons is allowed under the current restrictions, a 14-day quarantine is required upon return to Manitoba under the Canadian government's orders.

"In many cases, that's not an option," Beaudry said. "You've got senior citizens that can't drive. So then, them and their driver have to be quarantined when they come back. So that adds an extra hardship.

"The seniors are really impacted by this because some of them have medical issues where they're required to have a blood work done on a weekly basis, and their medications adjusted accordingly. So they're really suffering."

One option is to find a doctor in a nearby Manitoba town, but many aren't able to take on new patients. That leaves travelling to Winnipeg as the only other alternative, said Beaudry.

Instead of a 30-minute drive to Roseau, people in the community of Piney face a drive of more than two hours to Winnipeg.

"So then you're you're looking at a five-hour trip, plus your appointment. And if your health is not very good, that's an eight-hour day," Beaudry said.

It's not easy for everyone to take off that kind of time, he said, noting people have to leave work and kids have to be pulled from school for the entire day to see their family doctor.

On Tuesday, Premier Brian Pallister said he's fighting for those in the Piney area.

"The federal government started introducing more severe restrictions on the folks in Piney and that area down there. Our MLAs raised this — we're real concerned about it," he said.

"We don't feel that's fair or right. Folks shouldn't be deterred from getting their health care the way they have been getting it in closer proximity," Pallister said, adding the province has raised the issue with the federal government.

"It just seems to me to make good sense, and it would just show some compassion for the folks in that area."

Hearing that, Beaudry said, was extremely welcome news.

"We're very thankful that he shows his support for us. We're really needing it."