Physician Noam Katz doesn’t need a national report or a politician’s news release to tell him Manitobans are waiting too long in emergency rooms — he sees it every shift.
Katz, who works in the ER at St. Boniface Hospital, said what was seen as bad a few years ago is now the norm.
“It used to be when we had 10 people admitted to our department, it was cause for panic and alarm,” Katz said Wednesday. “Now, all of a sudden, it became 15, then 20, then it was 30 … it is not uncommon to work, something like a 3:30 to 11:30 p.m. shift, to leave at 11:30, and to come back the next day at 3:30 for your next shift and see somebody who still has not been seen.
“It’s not just the little things. It’s the big things and that is a big concern.”
While the Progressive Conservative party continues to slam Premier Wab Kinew and the NDP for not fixing the problem as the anniversary of their first year in office approaches, Katz said at least things haven’t gotten worse.
“It’s certainly staying stable. It fluctuates so there are degrees of badness — but I don’t think it has ever really improved.”
This week, the Canadian Institute for Health Information issued a report saying Manitobans were spending between 12.7 to 19.1 hours waiting in emergency rooms.
That’s worse than before the COVID-19 pandemic, when Manitobans waited an average of between seven to 11 hours.
Ninety per cent of those who ended up being admitted to hospital spent 58.9 hours in the ER, the third-longest total in Canada. Five years ago, the stay was 37.4 hours.
The data was collected between April 2023 to March 2024, with the first six months coming under the previous Tory government’s watch.
Interim PC Leader Wayne Ewasko still blasted the NDP.
“ER wait times in hospitals across the province are climbing under Wab Kinew’s watch,” Ewasko said in a statement.
“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 health care in Manitoba, the public should be able to see behind the veil on what is influencing NDP decision making.”
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara fired back saying “we are seeing the direct consequences of seven and a half years of cuts by the PC government.
“The PCs spent two terms methodically dismantling Manitoba’s health-care system by closing emergency departments, cutting beds, and firing front-line workers. Fixing the damage done is our number one priority.”
Asagwara added the province recently announced the opening of 68 transitional care unit beds and more than 100 new inpatient beds and increased hours for weekend patient discharges.
Dr. Randy Guzman, president of Doctors Manitoba, called the CIHI report concerning.
“Doctors have long recommended how to fix this problem, including adding more family physicians, investing in team-based care, and opening more hospital beds, but the progress on this has been slow. We hope to see Manitoba jump start the actions and investments needed to get patients the care they need, when they need it, without unreasonably long wait times and delays.”
Katz, meanwhile, said he understands fixing the system will take time.
“I don’t have a magic bullet, nor do I think anyone does,” he said.
“When you look at the timeline of how we got here, it took decades for us to get to this point. It is not going to get fixed in a day (and) it’s not going to get fixed in a year.
“I do appreciate that the NDP is willing to listen. I think that is a genuinely important step, but I want that listening to turn into action.”
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
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