Winnipeg woman speaks out after daughter struggled to access treatment at RAAM clinic – Winnipeg
Winnipegger Della George is speaking out after her daughter struggled to get to an addiction treatment clinic (RAAM) quickly.
Manitoba’s health agency, Shared Health, markets it online as an “accessible walk-in clinic,” but George said patients waited outside in the cold.
A woman in line said the clinic only allows three clients and sometimes turns down the rest. This shocked George.
“Why are they turning people away? These people are lining up like us in this cold, why are they driving them away?” “Maybe this was their only chance.
George’s eldest daughter injured her neck in a car accident more than 15 years ago and needed painkillers. increase.
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“It really changed her. She became someone I didn’t know,” said George.
She says her daughter’s miraculous recovery surprised doctors, but her struggle didn’t end there. After years of unsuccessful attempts to help her with her addiction, it all changed when she called George’s home two weeks ago.
“She was completely insane,” she said. “I kept checking on her to see if she was breathing.”
The next morning, George took his daughter and partner to the Winnipeg RAAM clinic on Magnus Avenue and was told to stand outside.
To George’s disbelief, there were at least 10 patients lined up in the cold with no guarantee of being seen that day.
George’s daughter was hospitalized with the help of a local organization, but hopes the state will provide more resources so everyone can get treatment.
Shared Health says it is working to expand access.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson said, “We recognize that limited time and availability within the RAAM Clinic can be distressing for those seeking care.
They say the state’s seventh new Indigenous-led RAAM clinic will open in late May at Winnipeg’s Aboriginal Health and Wellness Center, with about $900,000 in state funding announced in January. Stated.
Manitoba has contributed more than $11.8 million to RAAM clinics since 2018, a spokesperson for Minister of Mental Health and Community Services Janice Maury Lecomte said in an email Thursday.
The new clinic on Higgins Avenue will accommodate up to 2,300 patient visits annually, they said.
“It’s good that they’re planning it, but we needed it now, not months later,” said George.
“I had no idea how powerful addiction, especially opiate addiction, was.”
George hopes that others can begin their journey to recovery without facing obstacles.
—Using Rosanna Hempel’s file from Global
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
