The President of the Association of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (AMBM) and Reeve of the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie, Mr. Ivan Normandeau; the Mayor of the Town of Sainte-Anne, Mr. Yvan St. Vincent; the Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Sainte-Anne, Mr. Richard Pelletier; the Mayor of the Rural Municipality of Taché, Mr. Armand Poirier; and the Deputy Reeve of the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie, Mr. Laurent Tétrault, jointly issued the following statement welcoming the creation of a working group to explore the regional designation of Hôpital Sainte-Anne Hospital:
We warmly welcome this significant step forward toward the regional designation we have been advocating for over the past eighteen months. This working group represents a concrete opportunity to build a sustainable, bilingual health care system that reflects the realities of our region.
Hôpital Sainte-Anne Hospital has played a central role in health care in Southeastern Manitoba since 1954. Thanks to decades of investment by successive governments, it now benefits from strong infrastructure, community support, and the trust of patients in this growing bilingual region.
Regional designation will enable the implementation of a phased and realistic plan to restore operating hours, expand available services, and recruit staff. This will help ease pressure on the health care system in the Southeast, create equitable and culturally appropriate care, and contribute to fulfilling the promise of accessible health care for all Manitobans—whether in rural or urban settings.
We wish to thank Premier Wab Kinew for confirming in writing just a few days ago his commitment to working in partnership with the municipality, hospital leadership, surrounding communities, and all stakeholders to advance this regional designation.
We are also grateful to the Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care, the Honourable Uzoma Asagwara, for their leadership and attentiveness during the meeting with the AMBM and its members on September 4th. We are pleased to see the Manitoba government taking concrete steps to activate the bilingual advantage of our province.
We remain committed to collaborating with the province and our municipal partners in a progressive approach that is evidence-based and rooted in the realities of our bilingual communities.
About the AMBM
The AMBM is the voice of bilingual municipal leadership in the province of Manitoba. It represents 16 municipal governments committed to offering services in both official languages to their residents. Together, these municipalities represent the majority of Manitoba’s population. Manitoba’s bilingual municipal leadership also leads the AMBM Group, a consortium of three organizations with complementary mandates: the AMBM, the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba, or CDEM) and Eco-West Canada (EWC), which specializes in the green economy. Complementing each other, these three organizations actively contribute to the development, vitality and sustainability of the province’s Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC) and the province as a whole.
Information: Office of the Chief Executive Officer (O-CEO), 204-289-4077, [email protected].
