NDP puts Victoria hospital at heart of south Winnipeg campaign

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This article was published 30/08/2023 (782 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The NDP has doubled down on a campaign promise to reopen a hospital emergency room in south Winnipeg — and the bellwether Fort Richmond electoral district.

On Wednesday, NDP Leader Wab Kinew and riding candidate Jennifer Chen restated in English and Mandarin, respectively, a vow to reopen the Victoria General Hospital ER in the fast-growing area and why it’s needed and deserved.

“Right now, if families in south Winnipeg have an emergency, they have to drive past their community hospital,” Kinew said at a news conference, flanked by caucus members, candidates and area residents, with the Pembina Highway hospital as a backdrop.

”That just doesn’t make sense for the hardworking people in this part of the city. It doesn’t make sense for you people in this part of the city who are paying taxes,” he said.

“You’re supposed to have good access to health care and you’re just not getting those services with (Premier) Heather Stefanson and the PCs.”

It is one of three Winnipeg ERs closed by the Progressive Conservative government in 2017-19 the New Democrats say they will to reopen — if elected Oct. 3 — once staffing shortages are addressed, starting with Victoria.

Karla Rawluk, who lives and works in south Winnipeg, offered herself up as an example, saying she suffered chest pain in November, and was directed by Health Links to the Victoria urgent care centre because it was closest.

“The (Victoria) nurse said, we can’t help you… we’re not an ER,” Rawluk said Wednesday.

She waited five hours, then left without seeing a doctor. Rawluk said she was later diagnosed with angina.

All patients who arrive at urgent care are assessed and triaged based on their symptoms, a Winnipeg Regional Health Authority spokesperson said.

All urgent care and ER teams receive the same type of training, including anything related to chest pain, the spokesperson said, noting urgent care centres have protocols to stabilize patients that arrive with the most serious, life-threatening health concerns.

“I worry about others in south Winnipeg who are having an emergency and can’t get the care they need,” said Rawluk, who supports the NDP. “We need our ER back at Victoria hospital.”

Meantime, the NDP need to win over more south Winnipeg voters to win the 2023 provincial election, said University of Manitoba political studies Prof. Christopher Adams.

Hospitals that provide vital services to people in a health crisis can be a “flash point” at the polls, he said Wednesday.

Fort Richmond (home to the Victoria hospital) is a “bellwether” district for the New Democrats, who need to pick up suburban seats lost to the PCs in 2016, Adams said.

“If the NDP can’t win this riding, it’s hard to concede that they would win the provincial election.”

Fort Richmond PC MLA Sarah Guillemard, who has held the seat since 2016, is not seeking re-election.

Paramjit Shahi, executive director of the South Winnipeg Community Centre, is running for the Tories.

Ernie Nathaniel, a filmmaker, is the Liberal candidate.

Chen, a former Winnipeg School Division trustee who was born in China, is carrying the banner for the NDP in Fort Richmond, which has a large Chinese-Canadian population.

The 2021 census found Mandarin was (aside from English) the most common language spoken in Fort Richmond homes (2,170), compared to Tagalog (145) and Punjabi (705).

The electoral district’s overall population grew 2.5 per cent between 2016 and 2021.

Chen said in an interview her statements Wednesday in Mandarin were about the Opposition NDP trying to stop the PCs from closing the Victoria ER in 2017, and that the NDP will reopen it, if elected.

“When I knock on doors in Fort Richmond, I heard from a lot of people saying they want their ER back,” Chen added.

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Data gathered from NDP freedom of information requests show monthly urgent care visits at Victoria increased 10.8 per cent from December 2022 (3,225) to May (3,574).

Asked Wednesday to comment on whether an urgent care centre at Victoria (rather than an emergency department) is sufficient to serve south Winnipeg, the PC party responded by listing its health-care hiring and spending initiatives — and mocked the NDP leader’s name.

“Wobbly Kinew strikes again,” said a statement attributed to McPhillips MLA Shannon Martin, who’s not running for re-election.

“Less than 48 hours after making big promises on ERs, he’s already backtracking. Making health-care announcements conditional on ‘what-if’ scenarios won’t put our health-care system on the road to recovery. Clearly, he’s just not ready to govern.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.