Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen speaks during a COVID-19 press conference at the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg, Friday, March 27, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)
WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is investing $1.1 million to expand the province’s eating disorder programs.
Funding will flow to the programs at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg, as well as help to create a safe nutrition clinic for people living with eating disorders.
“Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge-eating are the number one cause of death among all mental illnesses,” said Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen.
Friesen added the funding will decrease wait times for treatment to one to two weeks from two to 10 weeks, and keep people close to their support networks in Manitoba while receiving care.
The province says the funding will also reduce wait times for outpatient care to two to three weeks from four to six months. The funding will also allow money previously allocated to send Manitobans out of province to be reinvested on supports in Manitoba. In the first six months of 2019, more than $500,000 was spent on five patients to be sent out of province for care.
