Physio, massage therapists scramble to reopen safely in Manitoba, but at lower capacity

Health-care workers in Manitoba are hustling to ensure peoplewith toothaches or chronic conditions in need of physiotherapy or massage therapy can now get appointments with their practitioners at least some of them.

Some health-care workers worked night and day to ensure their clinics could open Monday, while keeping patients and workers safe and complying with provincial regulations.

One of those wasNicholas Chiu, the co-owner of Zen Physiotherapy in Winnipeg.

"It feels really, really good. I missed treating patients," he said on reopening day.

"We're trying to keep it to one patient per hour per therapist, but we're trying not to have more than one or two therapistsat a time."

As of May 4, a variety ofnon-essential health care and retail businesseshave the option of reopening under strict guidelines.

That means a big drop in the number of patients Chiu's practice is able to see. Even so, things are busy.

"We've been getting lots of calls, so I think people that were waiting for our doors to open, so today's packed. The next few days are getting busier and busier," he said.

"We're having to turn away certain patients because we're trying to maintain social distancing and we don't want to be inundated with patients and not have control in terms of our safety and their safety."

Staff of physiotherapy clinics have worked "like the dickens," says Jim Hayes, the executive director of the Physiotherapy Association of Manitoba. He says the vast majority of the 120 clinics in the province are able to open Monday because of their hard work to meet government guidelines and accumulate personal protective equipment over the last few days.

"I'm in admiration, really, of the clinics, the way they've gone after this," Hayes said.

He says physiotherapy is critically important in the province.

"There are hundredsof people who are needing their range of movement back, who need pain relief, who need post-surgical followup."

Working hard in anticipation of reopening

Debby Mackenzie owns Academy Massage Therapy in Winnipeg, which has been closed for the last seven weeks. It opened Monday at half capacity.

Over the last month and a half, the massage therapy clinic has been renovated and deep cleaned, she says.

"We've been trying to anticipate all the protocols that would come," Mackenzie said.

Shethinks that's partly why they were able to open on time while othershaven't been. For instance, Wolseley Wellness, which offers massage therapy, chiropractics and accupuncture, among other things,is taking massage patients starting next week.

Mackenzie says the massage therapists at the clinic are thrilled to be back at work.

"Many of their clients were left in the middle of [a]treatment plan andsome were in a lot of pain, so they're very excited to get back to clients," she said.

Some acupuncturists are also back to work.

Priscilla Kerr practices traditional Chinese medicine and says it's a big relief to be able to treat patients. She says she fought hard to have acupuncture included in the first round of reopenings, even though it isn't regulated.

"Basically I'm seeing emergencies because I cannot [schedule] everybody. But at least the ones that are in severe pain I can see right away now. That's a big relief for me," she said.

Dentalclinics, which previously were only open for emergency situations,can now see patients with urgent matters, like toothaches, cracked teeth or risks of infection, however some weren't able to open Monday.

Some clinics had trouble acquiring enough personal protective equipment and others couldn't get enough staff on short notice, says Marc Mollotof the Manitoba Dental Association.

"We've been largely quite quiet for the last seven or so weeks. Many of us have laid off staff and put them on government programs. Being able to bring your team back, or at least a skeleton team is the first challenge," he said.

A shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, gloves and gowns, is a health care issue across Manitoba, Canada and globally, he added.

"We're up close to people and doing procedures near them. We have a heightened need for PPE," Mollot said.

He added dentists are looking forward to seeing all patients again in the future, but the association wants to do so in a safe, measured way, like alight dimmer, rather than a flick of a switch.