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Winnipeggers react to worst hospital wait times in country

Winnipeggers are reacting to a report released Thursday that showed several city hospital emergency rooms have some of the longest wait times in Canada.

4 Winnipeg hospitals rank among 5 worst in Canada for maximum emergency room wait times, report finds

CBC News ·

Winnipeggers react to worst hospital wait times in country

10 years ago
Duration 2:17
Winnipeggers are reacting to a report released Thursday that revealed the city's hospital emergency rooms have some of the longest wait times in Canada

Winnipeggers are reacting to a report released Thursday that revealed the city's hospital emergency rooms have some of the longest wait times in Canada.

According to the report, released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, four of the five slowest ERs in Canada are in Winnipeg.
Side of a brick building with the words Grace Hospital
A pharmacist with the Grace Hospital 'inappropriately accessed' the health information of 56 patients, says the WRHA. The employee is no longer working for the health authority, CEO Real Cloutier says. (Mike Fazio/CBC)

St. Boniface General Hospital, Victoria General Hospital, Concordia Hospital were among the bottom four.

The Grace Hospital located just off Portage Avenue topped the list with the longest recorded ER wait at 9.1 hours. This placed the Grace in the 90th percentile, that is, the maximum amount of time nine out of 10 patients waited to see a doctor.

Average maximum wait times by province:

  • Yukon: 1.9 hours
  • BC: 2.5
  • Alberta: 3.1
  • Ontario: 3.2
  • Saskatchewan: 3.4
  • PEI: 3.5
  • Nova Scotia: 3.6​
  • Manitoba: 5.6

Experts have said the maximum wait time should be three hours.

Tara Torchia-Wells said her mother was inside the Grace Hospital's emergency room with abnormal pain.

They arrived the night before.

“We probably got there around 9:30 in the eve and checked into triage quickly," said Torchia-Wells.

She said her mom waited 6.5 hours to see a doctor. Then they heard Torchia-Wells' mother was in store for another long wait: it would be 12 more hours to get any tests done.
The exterior of the Victoria General Hospital.
If elected in October, the NDP says it would reopen a new emergency department at Victoria General Hospital, once the necessary staff is in place. (Mike Fazio/CBC)

"He basically said they can't do anything for her at this point, they'd have to wait 'till morning to do a diagnostic test, which was an ultrasound," said Torchia-Wells. “It will stick in my mind for a long time as not being reasonable and not being acceptable."

Manitoba Health Minister Erin Selby agreed.

Selby said she's told hospital officials to pull up their socks.

"The message was loud and clear in these numbers that we can do better. We should be doing better and Manitobans deserve to have better.  I have told the WRHA (Winnipeg Regional Health Authority) that I expect them to meet their target. It's an ambitious target but I think they should meet it."

The WRHA said addressing wait times in the Grace Hospital ER is a top priority.

The WHRA said it is in the process of changing when diagnostic testing will be available in hopes that will help shorten average wait times.

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