'Someone will die': Nurse shares concerns as HSC deals with 30-plus hour wait times

A nurse at the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) is worried patients could die if something doesn't change regarding emergency room wait times.

In an email to the Manitoba Nurses Union posted on X, a nurse says HSC’s emergency department is drowning.

“Wait times are 30+ hours. We're now moving patients to unmonitored hallways to make room for critical patients. These are practices we've never stooped to before, and to be clear, not a single nurse is comfortable with this. Someone will die unnecessarily," the email read.

Union President Darlene Jackson says there are not enough open beds due to the shortage of nurses so people are being moved to hallways where there is not proper oversight.

"The chances of a bad outcome increase and that's really what the nurses are concerned about," said Jackson.

Shared Health tells CTV News, that last Saturday the HSC ER saw 164 patients, of which 119 were seriously ill. As a result, the ER’s six resuscitation beds were over capacity. It says when this occurs, stable patients are moved to the hallway to make room.

The union says it's not just HSC, wait times are an issue at all Winnipeg emergency rooms.

Shelly Hart lives in Calgary and is worried about her mom in Winnipeg.

"I haven’t gotten any sleep and I was up crying all morning," said Hall.

Her mom is 83 years old and she is bruised from a fall and was waiting for more than a day at St. Boniface for care.

"This is our health-care system, she spent her whole life paying into it and this is how she's being treated. You know, it’s like there's no dignity left."

Manitoba's new health minister, Uzoma Asagwara, says the wait times are unacceptable, and it will take time to fix the system which saw three Winnipeg emergency rooms closed under the Tories.

"I empathize with families and with patients who navigate those challenges in our health-care system," said Asagwara.

Asagwara said the province is listening to front-line workers, hospitals are now discharging patients seven days a week up from five, and retention of staff is a key part of their strategy.

"Our government has already taken steps to strengthen health care in our emergency departments."