NDP decries ER wait times

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This article was published 02/08/2023 (815 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba NDP has called out growing ER wait times and criticized the Progressive Conservative government’s health-care cuts.

NDP health care critic Uzoma Asagwara pointed to Winnipeg Regional Health Authority data that shows wait times at the Health Sciences Centre adult emergency room reached 10.8 hours for the 90th percentile of patients in June. Approximately one in three patients waiting in the ER left without being seen by a doctor, Asagwara said.

“We all know within the last few weeks, the Stefanson government has become more and more desperate to change the channel from their cuts.”

Median wait times increased at all Winnipeg hospitals in June compared with May, although many hospitals logged wait times slightly below or similar to the median wait times recorded in June 2022. The city’s three emergency departments had the highest wait times of all hospitals.

HSC’s adult ER wait time of 10.8 hours for patients in the 90th percentile represents an increase over the previous month and a slight decrease since the same time last year. Wait times in the 90th percentile mean nine out of 10 patients experienced shorter wait times and one out of 10 waited longer.

At St. Boniface Hospital, 90th percentile waits reached 8.21 hours in June, the second-highest in the city, but a decline over the previous month. In May, the wait was 9.15 hours. In June 2022, it was 8.07 hours. The 90th percentile wait at the Grace Hospital was 7.15 hours in June, up from 6.38 hours in May 2023, and down from 7.83 hours in June 2022. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s monthly wait time data is posted online here.

Asagwara didn’t vow to reverse any government cuts if the NDP is elected Oct. 3, saying more details on the party’s health platform will be announced during the writ period.

They said if elected, the NDP will take a “different approach” and will listen to families and health workers.

“In terms of what exactly we’re going to do, that’s going to be laid out as we get closer to the election.”

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca