Letters, Oct. 2
Are clinical psychologists next? Re: Province hires 17 psychiatrists to work in Winnipeg, Selkirk (Sept. 25) Manitoba’s government has shown that it knows how to solve a specialist staffing crisis […]
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Manitoba's government has successfully addressed a mental health staffing crisis by hiring 17 psychiatrists for the public system. The Manitoba Psychological Society (MPS) commends the move, noting that any investment in mental health deserves celebration, particularly in light of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health's recent report card which gave Manitoba an overall grade of F and D for mental health and substance use.
The government's targeted recruitment and retention strategies have been effective, reducing psychiatry's vacancy rate from 20% to 5% and allowing trained psychiatry residents to remain in the province. MPS urges the government to implement the same strategies for clinical psychologists, whose vacancy rate exceeds 30% in the public system.
Longer wait times for Manitobans seeking mental health care and increased burnout among existing psychologists would result from further vacancies.
Written by urgent.news from Winnipeg Free Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
