Taxpayers foot bill for unused Shared Health office space

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This article was published 19/12/2023 (634 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Taxpayers are on the hook for two pieces of downtown Winnipeg real estate leased by Shared Health, the provincial health authority, which have sat mostly vacant since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organization tasked with overseeing the delivery of health services leases office space at 355 Portage Ave. (Air Canada Building) and across the street at 330 Portage Ave., with a cumulative 81,000-square-feet.

However, employees have not been in the two offices consistently since at least March 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic, a spokesperson for Shared Health said in a statement.

“Workplace needs have evolved in recent years, as the pandemic prompted many office staff to begin working remotely or in hybrid roles (a combination of in-office and remote work),” the spokesperson said in response to questions from the Free Press.

Shared Health refused to disclose the monthly cost to taxpayers to lease the space while its employees worked elsewhere. A report from CBC pegged the cost at $1.2 million annually, citing an internal document leaked by a government source.

Shared Health would not confirm the figure and its spokesperson argued contractual details with a third party cannot be made public.

Shared Health said it took over responsibility for the leases in 2018 and 2019. The lease of two floors at 355 Portage Ave. was for 10 years and expires at the end of December.

It will not be renewed, Shared Health said.

The lease of 27,000 square feet at 330 Portage Ave. was for nine years and is up for renewal in 2024. Shared Health has not yet decided whether it will need the space.

A “post-pandemic needs assessment” of all leased spaces is underway, Shared Health said.

Last year, five per cent of the health authority’s operating costs — $76.6 million — went to corporate administrative functions.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the government wants to prioritize improving the health care system and supporting downtown where public employees are part of a thriving community.

“It’s clear to me that decisions that were made out of necessity during COVID were not continually assessed and evaluated by the previous government,” Asagwara said.

“As a result we’re in this situation now where we see all of this space that is unused or underutilized.”

Asagwara said a review is underway of remote work arrangements that led to downtown Shared Health offices sitting vacant.

Meantime, Manitoba Public Insurance has ordered its employees to return at least part time to its downtown Cityplace office. A new hybrid program for an estimated 400 workers will take effect in February.

Manitoba Hydro’s 1,800 employees, who are based out its Portage Avenue headquarters, are required to go to the office at least three days a week.

Out of Manitoba’s nearly 12,000 civil-service workers, about 3,000 have a flexible work arrangement that allows them to work remotely or with flexible hours at least one day per month.

However, employees have been directed to spend the majority of their time in their designated workplace, according to the province, and less than 0.5 per cent of core employees are working fully from home.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca