The provincial government will now oversee all public-health inspection services in Manitoba, with the transfer of 18 public-health inspectors from the City of Winnipeg to provincial jurisdiction. This announcement was made by Health Minister Theresa Oswald.
“This will streamline service delivery and improve the efficiency of our public-health inspection services,” said Oswald. “By providing a single, consistent approach throughout Manitoba, we will make sure citizens are protected and can get the information and assistance they need, when they need it.”
Previously, the City of Winnipeg was responsible for public-health inspections in inner-city Winnipeg. Provincial staff will now conduct all public-health inspections, which will include restaurants, swimming pools and tattoo parlours across the province.
The province’s new Health Protection Reports website will provide information on provincewide inspections of a variety of regulated facilities including food services and restaurants, swimming pools, water-recreation facilities and body-modification establishments. The website will provide information about all health-related closures including reasons for closures and their length, and details about convictions for serious violations of public-health regulations.
The information currently found on the City of Winnipeg’s Diner’s Digest website will be transferred to the province’s Health Protection Reports website.
“Public-health inspectors play a crucial role in protecting and supporting the health of our communities,” said Oswald. “We believe bringing these services together under one roof will strengthen the capacity of our inspection teams to deal with essential public-health issues.”
The province is committed to maintaining existing service levels and will provide necessary support to staff during their transition to the province, the minister noted.
This is the last public-health service to be transferred to the province from the City of Winnipeg. The transfer of other services, including public health nursing and medical officers of health, has already taken place.
