NDP Must Act on Rising ER Wait Times in Manitoba
WINNIPEG — Progressive Conservatives are calling on the NDP government to immediately address rising emergency room wait times in Manitoba, and to release a public report on data collected from their cross-provincial healthcare “listening tour.”
“ER wait times in hospitals across the province are climbing under Wab Kinew’s watch,” said Wayne Ewasko, Leader of the Official Opposition. “After almost a year in office, the NDP have not brought forward any tangible action to reduce wait times for emergency services. If the listening tour is the NDP’s plan to improve healthcare in Manitoba, the public should be able to see behind the veil on what is influencing NDP decision-making.”
New data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows that Manitoba has among the worst ER lengths of stay in the country. Likewise, median waits for hospital admission from ERs are the second worst in Canada at nearly 22 hours. Meanwhile next door, Saskatchewan leads the nation with median waits under ten hours. Manitoba’s discharge times for non-urgent cases are the worst in the country, and are second worst for urgent cases.
This data builds on trending increases in wait times for Winnipeg ERs, which have risen by nearly an hour since the NDP took office. Earlier this week, a St. Boniface ER doctor sounded the alarm on the status of emergency departments in the city.
Progressive Conservatives are joining the calls from front-line healthcare workers for health minister Uzoma Asagwara and the NDP to publicly release data collected on their listening tour, and to specify what changes will come forward from the exercise to Manitoba’s healthcare system.
“Under the NDP, Manitobans have seen off-and-on closures of ERs in rural communities, climbing wait times for ERs in Winnipeg, and longer waits for surgical and diagnostic procedures,” said Roblin MLA Kathleen Cook, PC Critic for Health. “We’re hearing from healthcare workers that the listening tour is not enough. The NDP need to be transparent with Manitobans about their next steps and actually act on them.”
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