A clear example of doing things right

This week’s re-opening of a temporary emergency department in the flood-damaged Dauphin Regional Health Centre was described by government officials as a “monumental team effort.” It was certainly that, but the story about how the ER was restored so quickly is so much more.

Initial reports suggested it would take months, if not an entire year, to restore the health centre to full operation after severe flooding in late June. Storm water had completely flooded the basement of the hospital, damaging power and HVAC systems, rendering the facility uninhabitable.

The Dauphin centre provides primary care to more than 45,000 people in the Parkland region. The prospect that it would have to remain closed to patients for up to a year enraged local residents and put the provincial NDP government on the hot seat.

On a visit to the damaged facility in mid-July, Premier Wab Kinew said that a year delay in re-opening of the facility was “unacceptable.” He and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara both pledged to expedite repairs as much as humanly possible. The premier doubled down on that pledge in mid-August, when he said that ER services would be restored to Dauphin by Labour Day on Sept. 7.

True to the premier’s word, a temporary ER began accepting patients exactly on schedule. Operating on the main floor of the health centre, the ER relies on temporary power and ventilation systems that will allow it to operate independently while repairs are being conducted on other parts of the facility.

How did things move so quickly? The Dauphin ER is, ultimately, a story about the importance role played by the political level of any government.

Although elected governing officials are portrayed as the leaders of government, so much of what government does is determined by the quality of the advice and execution of its bureaucracy. The sheer number of things that a government is charged with doing on a day-to-day basis is so enormous that it would be impossible for, say, 30 MLAs and a dozen or so cabinet ministers to micro manage every one of them.

Thus, the relationship between elected official and bureaucrat is one of great and mutual trust: the former trusting that bureaucrats will give them the best possible solutions to any problem; the latter trusting that elected officials will be reasonable in their expectations.

In this case, there is clear evidence the political level of the NDP government asked bureaucrats to take a second look at ways of restoring some function to the Dauphin health centre. Full restoration of all functions and departments was not on the table; the question soon became, what can we do in the short term to meet the needs of area residents?

The expedited effort to restore the ER is an excellent example of how elected officials, when they have hands on a big problem, can be essential in helping the bureaucracy be bolder and more creative. Bureaucracies are, by their very nature, risk averse and need clear direction from the elected officials to reach outside the box.

The solution as provided is not without complications. Patients at the temporary ER who require hospitalization will still be required to travel to other communities. So, too, will patients requiring hospital-level treatment for chronic diseases.

And yet, Dauphin has a fully functioning ER, which is a huge and important accomplishment.

Government is so often criticized for moving too slowly and not meeting the expectations of the citizenry. These criticisms are completely legitimate, as there are numerous instances of the bureaucracy moving at a glacial pace when faced with immediate challenges.

This, thankfully, was not one of those instances. The opening of the Dauphin ER was a monumental achievement.

It is also evidence that sometimes, government can rise above our otherwise well-earned cynicism.