Nearly 14% of patients left Winnipeg ERs without receiving care in March: Shared Health

Nearly 14 per cent of all patients left Winnipeg emergency rooms and urgent care centres without receiving care in March, according to new data provided by Shared Health.

Just under 2,700 patients that month left without being seen by a physician, or 13.6 per cent of all patients. That percentage is up from the average of 8.9 per cent year-over-year, a spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday.

The rate continues to be highest at Health Sciences Centre, where 24.1 per cent of patients left without care in March. This rate is up from March 2021, when the rate was 19.2 per cent at the hospital.

Shared Health says increased rates of patients leaving without being seen are concerning and show the need to address wait times in emergency departments and urgent care centres.

This data is "as concerning as it is unsurprising," emergency department physician Dr. Kristjan Thompson said in a statement.

March's data works out to about one in seven patients not receiving care.

These wait times are a symptom of a much broader and complex set of challenges that … predate the pandemic.- Dr. Kristjan Thompson, emergency department physician

"That's an average that includes both the good and the bad days, and we know some days this can be as high as one in four patients leaving the ER without being seen," he said.

Thompson, who is also the president of Doctors Manitoba, says the pandemic is just one factor in the problem.

"It's important to recognize that these wait times are a symptom of a much broader and complex set of challenges that all back up into ERs, and these issues predate the pandemic," he said.

"The solutions must tackle these root causes, including a lack of in-patient capacity, staffing shortages and the need for improved processes based on the feedback from front-line physicians, nurses and other staff."

Since October 2021, more than 12,800 patients out of a total of 111,290 have left Winnipeg hospitals and emergency rooms without receiving the care they need, or just over 11 per cent.

Thompson says even one patient leaving without receiving care is too many.

'They can't help me'

Nearly a year ago, Kelly Fuhr went to the emergency department at the Brandon Regional Health Centre for complications arising from COVID-19.

She was so exhausted, she could barely walk across the hall from her bedroom to her bathroom, she said. She recalls it feeling like there was a tightening belt across her chest.

"I couldn't draw breath and I started to panic," she said in an interview with CBC News. "I said, 'I think just to be on the safe side, I should go to the ER.'"

When she arrived, there were so many people that one woman was lying on the ground, unable to stop vomiting.

It was a huge indication that our province has failed us.- Kelly Fuhr

"I sat down in the waiting room and there were so many people, and ambulances upon ambulances bringing people in," Fuhr said. "I was like, I don't know where they're going to put everybody."

After four hours of waiting, she decided to leave, noting that people who seemed much sicker had waited longer than she had.

"I looked around and I thought to myself, 'They can't help me. They are in no position to help me,'" Fuhr said.

"It was a huge indication that our province has failed us."

Expanding pilot project to address problems

Shared Health says the Manitoba government is working to address the number of patients leaving without care, as well as long wait times, by expanding on a project piloted at HSC.

The physician-in-triage model that started last August pairs an emergency room doctor with a nurse and nursing assistant to determine the sickest patients in waiting rooms.

The physician helps manage and provide care for those waiting to be seen, especially those who are the highest acuity.

Shared Health says the project has shown success in improving patient wait times in its limited use to date, while reducing the rate of patients who leave without having spoken to a doctor.

The province is spending $1.2 million to expand the physician-in-triage program at HSC, and are in discussions to expand the model to include St. Boniface and Grace hospitals.

A provincial spokesperson said the province will work to ensure the sickest and most injured patients are seen without delay at emergency departments across the province.