HSC nurses meeting with health minister about ER staff shortages
Staffing shortages at Winnipeg's emergency rooms and urgent care centres are still translating into longer wait times for emergency care, with nurses being brought in from other departments to help with the workload.
Health Sciences Centre (HSC) chief operating officer Dr. Shawn Young said despite their busy emergency room, there are still hundreds of vacancies at the hospital, meaning nurses with resuscitation skills from other areas are working in the ER.
"So when we are short on a particular night or a particular day we've been asking the ICU to help and most of the time they have been able to help with one, two or three nurses," said Young.
In August, the average wait time for all urgent care centres and emergency rooms in Winnipeg was a little more than 3 hours– 22 minutes longer than the previous month.
The average length of stay in the ER was steady but still well above pre-pandemic levels at 20.38 hours.
As well, 16 per cent of patients left the ER without being treated, nearly 30 per cent at HSC.
Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU), said HSC adult emergency nurses are meeting Thursday evening with Health Minister Audrey Gordon to discuss the current problems.
"Nurses need to be able to talk about their experiences and give real life examples of what's happening right now and where they're seeing some failures," said Jackson. "And I think that would be very helpful for the nurses to actually be able to bring those examples and those issues forward."
Jackson said she's heard 30 nurses will be attending the meeting.
A government spokesperson tells CTV News Winnipeg that Minister Gordon has met with healthcare staff at various levels over the last year and more meetings are planned for the coming weeks to get feedback directly from HSC ER nurses.
- With files from Michelle Gerwing
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.