What a new report says about family doctor access, surgery wait times in Manitoba

Despite an influx of health-care workers in the system, there is still a significant number of Manitobans who need a family doctor.

According to a report released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), 85 per cent of Manitobans have access to a primary care provider, which is slightly above the national average of 83 per cent.

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Cheryl Chui, director of health system analytics with CIHI, said this is an area Canadians say is increasingly important to them with regards to health-care.

“It's important to have a regular care provider, someone who knows you and your medical history and then can help to ensure that you get the personalized care you need, screen for diseases, and help with prevention and management of any chronic illnesses that you may have to hopefully slow their progression,” she said.

The report also listed some good news for Manitobans with regards to surgical wait times. The volume of surgeries in Manitoba went up one per cent, compared to the volume before the pandemic in 2019-2020. In 2023-2024, 122,207 surgeries were completed in Manitoba, according to CIHI data.

Chui said waits for surgeries continues to be an issue.

“We are seeing that for some procedures, patients are still waiting longer than they would like to,” she said.

“When we look at the data, only 50 per cent of joint replacements -so those would be knee or hip replacements -were completed within the 26-week benchmark in Manitoba, which was below the national average of 62 per cent.

Chui said the data shows there is still room for improvement.

“There is work underway in terms of making sure there's more efficient or scheduling, increasing staffing, performing more procedures as day surgeries, so that they don't require overnight hospital stays,” she said.

Chui said the data is useful for provincial governments to allow them to see the progress and make adjustments to improve in the right areas.

In a statement, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the report shows promise for the future of health-care in Manitoba, but more work needs to be done.

“The previous government’s cuts to healthcare put us in reverse when we should have been charging ahead. We’re taking the steps to alleviate wait times, staff up the healthcare system, and bring care closer to home to Manitobans across the province,” they said.