Broken boiler puts Women’s Health Clinic out of commission

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This article was published 20/02/2025 (201 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Women’s Health Clinic is repeating its call for more funding after it had to shuffle appointments because its boiler broke and pipes froze.

The clinic, at 419 Graham Ave., was forced to close Thursday due to damage from the flooding and three days of inconsistent heat and water.

The building’s boiler broke down on the weekend and the inside temperature dropped to -1 C. The pipes froze and burst, flooding the third-floor clinic.

“Everything is so old, they’re past their life and getting repairs is really challenging because a lot of these parts don’t get made anymore,” executive director Kemlin Nembhard said.

Services and programs will be affected until the issue is resolved.

The building, which was constructed in the 1960s, has been plagued by issues in the last year. In July, the clinic was forced to send staff home and reduce services after the building went without air conditioning for two weeks.

In October, one of the clinic’s procedure beds broke and staff had to fundraise to repair it, so the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority stepped in and fixed it.

Nembhard has called for more provincial funding to renovate the clinic.

“We know what this (political) climate looks like. We know what’s happening in the U.S. (with respect to abortion access),” she said. “It just highlights why it’s really important to have our space.”

The clinic is the largest of three facilities in Manitoba that perform medical abortions.

The WRHA funds the clinic with a $6.6 million baseline.

The health authority topped up its funding by about $500,000 in the 2024-25 fiscal year, increasing the number of abortions provided from 1,600 to 2,300.

After winning the October 2023 election, Premier Wab Kinew directed Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara to fund “critical renovations” at the clinic.

The clinic is working on a capital campaign to raise $20 million to redevelop the clinic and consolidate its services, but is waiting on the province to offer cash for the project.

“We’re kind of in a holding pattern right now to try and secure enough funding to really launch (the campaign),” Nembhard said.

In an emailed statement, Asagwara said as soon as the province heard there were issues with the boiler, it made sure there were heaters available and provided contractors to begin repairs.

The minister said the province is “committed to delivering on our mandate to address the overall infrastructure issues that WHC is facing.”

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca