Province’s $10-B health-care budget raises questions about priorities, value for Manitobans

A day after the province announced a $10-billion budget — its largest ever — to fix health care and reduce wait times, questions are being raised about how the money is being spent.

“I think Manitobans are right to ask what are we getting for that amount of money,” Tory health critic Kathleen Cook said Tuesday.

NDP Finance Minister Adrien Sala revealed the government’s 2026 spending plan in the legislature Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ve got one of the highest wait times in Canada… home care is in shambles, people are dying needing care,” Cook said. “I don’t see a lot in this budget as intended to address that.”

The health-care budget rolled out Tuesday includes $22.1 million to establish a “Heart Care Manitoba” centre at St. Boniface Hospital.

“Our government is making one of the most significant investments in cardiac care in Manitoba’s history, expanding capacity at St. Boniface Hospital, a site long recognized for excellence in heart care, so it can once again meet the needs of patients and families,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in a prepared statement Wednesday.

The new cardiac-care centre will increase the number of in-patient beds to 62 from 48, and add five dedicated assessment beds to support timely diagnosis and treatment for patients in the emergency department, the minister said.

“Manitoba’s cardiac-care program was decimated by the previous government,” said Asagwara, who was not available for an interview Wednesday.

Cardiac care at the hospital has been under the microscope following the 2024 death of Debbie Fewster. The 69-year-old grandmother from Niverville was told she needed heart surgery immediately, but died after waiting more than two months.

“We are now rebuilding and expanding services to restore access so Manitobans can get the care they need,” Asagwara said.

The Manitoba Nurses Union wants to know how that can happen without funding in the budget to implement nurse-to-patient ratios in order to retain and recruit staff.

“No dedicated funds for nurse-patient ratios is a concern because we definitely need the appropriate number of nurses to care for every patient in the province,” president Darlene Jackson said. “Opening new beds without a plan for staffing is concerning.”

The union backs the government’s plan for a cardiac-care centre, she said.

“We do know that there are definitely more and more cardiac issues in our population. My concern is (additional) beds means considerably more staff are required,” she said.

“We still have lots of vacancies, we still have lots of overtime.”

The union reported Wednesday that nearly one-quarter of nursing positions at St. Boniface Hospital are vacant.

“It’s just concerning that we’re announcing… new beds without looking at how are we going to tackle this,” she said.

Asagwara said that since forming government in fall 2023, the NDP has added more than 380 fully staffed beds and recruited more than 4,000 health-care workers across the province.

“We’ve already safely expanded capacity through staffing, and we are applying that same co-ordinated, system-wide approach to these new cardiac beds, focused on recruitment, training and supporting front-line teams.”

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Doctors Manitoba said it was advised about the plan to establish a cardiac-care centre at St. Boniface Hospital but not consulted.

“We hope to see the health system consult doctors to ensure the millions of dollars set aside for these initiatives result in real improvements to patient care,” president Dr. Nichelle Desilets said.

The physicians’ advocacy organization is still waiting for details on the cardiac centre, spokesman Keir Johnson said.

“Doctors are ready and waiting to offer their advice and expertise at every step, to ensure the millions of taxpayer dollars set aside for these new initiatives actually deliver better care for the patients of Manitoba,” he said in an email.

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.