Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen wants the effectiveness of QuickCare Clinics examined when the Manitoba government launches its wait times reduction task force before the end of 2016.

It comes on the heels of new data released Wednesday by the Canadian Institute of Health Information, which shows Winnipeg had the longest ER wait times in Canada for the fifth straight year.

The clinics were opened to help divert people away from emergency rooms to treat minor health issues. However, patients have reported issues accessing services at some of Winnipeg’s six QuickCare Clinics.

Julie Morris lives with multiple sclerosis and went to the QuickCare Clinic at 3250 Portage Ave. on Wednesday at around 3 p.m. to see a nurse practitioner about a sore throat.

Morris phoned ahead to make sure the clinic was open, but when she got there staff gave her some bad news.

“She said as long as you don’t need a prescription you can see someone, because we have no nurse practitioners on today,” Morris said. “For me the availability of service is really, really important. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to a QuickCare Clinic, but I really would like to see the services are available when you need it.”

Instead, Morris ended up waiting to see a doctor at a walk-in clinic, but she worries others may have ended up in an emergency room.

The Portage Ave. QuickCare Clinic she went to on Wednesday wasn’t even open on Thursday, it was listed as closed due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

Other locations in the city remained open Thursday, but there was no nurse practitioner at the McGregor Street location – only registered nurses, which means no x-rays or prescriptions. The Vermillion Road location opened at noon, but reported long wait times with only one nurse practitioner on staff and the St. Mary’s Road location reported a short wait but closes at 4:30 p.m.

A nurse practitioner was on staff at the clinic on Jefferson Avenue until 5 p.m. The clinic is open until 7:30 p.m. The clinic on Dakota Street had a nurse practitioner on staff until 4 p.m.

Goertzen told reporters Wednesday he’s heard concerns QuickCare Clinics aren’t operating when they would provide the greatest relief for emergency rooms.

“You would expect that people who are using the ER’s would be often in the evenings, because there are other things like walk-in clinics you could use during the day,” said Goertzen. “Often the QuickCare Clinics aren’t available in the evenings and so I think it might have a degree of effect but is it getting the degree of effect for the money that we’re spending on them that’s really the question.”

“That’s a question I’d like the wait times task force to look at, we’re spending ‘X’ amount of money on QuickCare Clinics, but could that money be used more effectively somewhere else to get a better result.”

Winnipeg Regional Health Authority vice-president and chief nursing officer Lori Lamont said it has taken some time to get nurse practitioners in place and keep the clinics open for standard hours.

“We certainly did hear from the public that it was sometimes frustrating that they thought to go to Quick Care rather than emergency, and then only to find that particular day the hours had been shortened,” Lamont said on Wednesday.