The Manitoba government says it’s trying to curb the use of private, for-profit nursing agencies in the province as part of a larger effort to improve working conditions and prevent burnout in the health care system.

Health minister Uzoma Asagwara announced Wednesday that the province has issued a request for proposals to reduce the number of contracted agencies and ensure health-care funding is better directed toward public, front-line workers.

“The previous government’s health-care cuts created a cottage industry of private for-profit agencies,” Asagwara said in a statement.

“These agencies benefited from a situation where nurses had gone too long without a contract and in frustration left the public system. These for-profit companies perpetuated a cycle of burnout and mandatory overtime that hurt patients and exhausted nurses, all while they raked in revenue.

“While we’ve taken many steps to staff up the front lines, treat nurses with the respect they deserve and change the culture throughout the system, this is another important step. We’re saying enough is enough. It’s time to stop giving for-profit health care the advantage.”

The province said it has held hundreds of contracts with for-profit agencies in the past, with no real framework to help change the rates they charge or to lessen the impact on nurses.

Wednesday’s news marks a positive move, Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said.

“This is a crucial step in preventing for-profit businesses from exploiting both financial and human resources.

“The Manitoba Nurses Union, under the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, has been advocating for this change for years.”

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