WINNIPEG -- Wait times are up at nearly all Winnipeg hospital's urgent care and emergency departments compared to last year.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has released its monthly wait time report showing 90th percentile wait times have increased from 4.73 hours at all hospitals in January 2019, to 5.42 hours in January 2020.
The St. Boniface emergency department had the highest wait times in the city in January 2020 at 6.42 hours.
Wait times have also increased month over month. Since December 2019, wait times jumped at all Winnipeg hospitals, increasing from 4.92 hours. The only exception was the Health Sciences Centre's children's emergency department, which decreased wait times by 0.35 hours.
This comes weeks after nurses in the St. Boniface emergency department penned a letter saying they are drowning under heavy workloads, high vacancy rates and mandated overtime.
READ MORE: St. Boniface ER nurses are "drowning" in workload, putting patients at risk: Union
Wait times increased in all hospitals except for the Concordia Urgent Care which decreased from 5.78 hours in January 2019 to 5.27 hours in January 2020, and the Seven Oaks Urgent Care which decreased from 5.25 hours in January 2019 to 5.10 hours in January 2020.
Here is a breakdown of wait times in the WRHA:
(Source: Winnipeg Regional Health Authority)
Manitoba opposition leader Wab Kinew said the wait times are a sign the government's plan to overhaul the health care system is not working.
“Brian Pallister’s cuts to health care mean the sickest patients are waiting longer and health care workers are in chaos,” said Kinew in an NDP news release. “Rather than admit his plan has failed he is charging ahead with the second phase—this time cuts and closures to rural communities."
Kinew called on the government to slow down the cuts and "get a handle" on staffing at hospitals.
In a written statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said the wait times have been high and lower than previous years.
"Respiratory illness presentations, isolated patients with respiratory illness, and a higher number of EMS arrivals, along with other system demands, were contributing factors," the spokesperson said.
"The focus for the teams in the emergency departments and urgent care centres continues to be on caring for the most acutely ill patients on a priority basis, and on offering compassionate and professional care to every patient who comes to our facilities with a health concern.”
