NDP promises to restore gynecology, menopause treatment centre for older women at Winnipeg's Victoria Hospital

Manitoba New Democrats promise to bring back a health centre that specialized in medical treatment for older women.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew promised Thursday to rebuild the mature women's centre atVictoria Hospital.

The facility provided menopause transition and gynecological treatment for older women until 2017, when it was closed as part of a restructuring of Manitoba health care.

"This is an initiative that was cut by the [Progressive] Conservatives. We're going to bring it back," Kinew said outside the south Winnipeg hospital.

The closure of the centre forced older women to wait longer to get treatment for gynecological problems such as complications following hysterectomies.

Sometimes women were unable to find doctors familiar with their medical needs, Kinew said.

"Once women pass their child-rearing years, it's almost as if they don't matter," said Dr. Sabrina Lee, a gynecology resident who spoke in support reopening the mature women's centre.

"We have leaders in the field of menopause care even today that would be ready at a drop of a dime to provide this exceptional care."

Rebuilding the mature women's centre would cost $5 million in capital expenses, plus $2 million a year to operate, the NDP says.

In 2021, Health Minister Audrey Gordon said her Progressive Conservative government was open to the idea of restoring the mature women's centre.

PC Leader Heather Stefanson said at a Thursday news conference thatshe did not recall that promise and noted the women's health centre at the Health Sciences Centre in central Winnipeg was expanded in 2019.

Kinew also promised to cover a wider range of menopause transition medications under pharmacare. This would cost $3 million a year, he said.

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