New beds coming to Grace Hospital over coming months: health minister
The provincial government is planning to add 31 new acute care beds at Grace Hospital over the coming year, with Manitoba's health minister noting the hospital has received a lot of attention for the wrong reasons.
Speaking at a news conference inside the Grace Hospital Wednesday, Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara outlined a plan to clear congestion in the hospital.
"The Grace Hospital has had a lot of attention in recent months, but not the kind of attention that anyone wants necessarily, and not the attention that anyone who works here deserves," they said.
Asagwara said wait times are so long some people leave without ever being seen, causing tragic outcomes in some cases.
Currently, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is looking into the death of a patient who waited 33 hours in the Grace Hospital emergency department.
READ MORE: WRHA probing death of patient waiting 33 hours in Winnipeg hospital ER
Asagwara said they look at the emergency departments as a barometer for the overall health of hospitals.
"Our vitals have not been good."
To deal with this issue, Asagwara said the provincial government plans to add 10 new medicine beds and 11 new surgical beds to the hospital.
"We are going to take a phased-in approach to these beds coming online over the coming months, and after April we are going to add an additional 10 beds," the health minister said, adding in total the hospital will have 31 new acute care beds.
"While these beds alone aren’t the solution to the challenges that we are facing, they will help relieve some of the pressure."
The health minister said there are also plans to establish a new family medicine program at the Grace Hospital.
But they acknowledge that staff are needed to support these expansions. Last week the health minister announced a plan to spend more than $2 million to add allied health staff and hospital case coordinators to help reduce wait times in several emergency departments.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6978649.1722015109!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in creek in Mississauga, Ont.: police
A three-year-old boy has been found dead a day after he went missing in a park in Mississauga, Ont., Peel police say.
Celine Dion delivers stirring comeback performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Against the rainy Paris night sky, Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career with a powerful performance from the Eiffel Tower to open the Olympic Games.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before residents can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes 'for several weeks.'
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn for $146,000 water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six-figure water bill.
FBI says Trump was indeed struck by bullet during assassination attempt
Nearly two weeks after Donald Trump’s near assassination, the FBI confirmed Friday that it was indeed a bullet that struck the former president’s ear, moving to clear up conflicting accounts about what caused the former U.S. president’s injuries after a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Turpel-Lafond won't sue CBC over Cree heritage report that took 'heavy toll': lawyer
The lawyer for a former judge whose claims to be Cree were questioned in a CBC investigation says his client is not considering legal action against the broadcaster after the Law Society of British Columbia this week backed her claims of Indigenous heritage.
Major Canadian bank experiences direct deposit outage on payday
Scotiabank says it has fixed a technical issue that impacted direct deposits on Friday morning.