‘How many people have to die?’: Five deaths tied to wait times in Manitoba hospitals

Health care wait times are concerning Manitoba residents as hospital resources become more strained. Alex Karpa reports.

Five patients facing delays in Manitoba’s health-care system were among 16 deaths listed in the province’s latest critical incident reports.

The deaths are part of 59 separate incidents between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2025.

According to the reports, two patients experienced delays in response to their medical conditions, two patients experienced delays in accessing care, and one patient experienced a delay in treatment.

Earlier reports show one death linked to delayed care in the first quarter of 2025, bringing the death total for the first nine months of the year to six.

While this number is concerning, the problem is not new: both 2023 and 2024 each saw 13 deaths associated with delays in care.

Critical incident reports exclude any information that could identify patients, residents, staff, or specific locations. Their purpose is to support investigations that identify root causes and help prevent similar incidents in the future.

‘It’s a shame’: Nurses union

Darlene Jackson said these incidents are largely driven by prolonged wait times in emergency departments.

“We have many patients that are waiting in acute care facilities, for long-term care, and home care,” Jackson said, who is the president of the Manitoba Nurses Union. “We really need to bolster staffing throughout the entire system to ensure that those individuals are moved out and in the appropriate place for care so that we can admit those patients waiting in emergencies.”

“We still have a significant number of vacancies in this province. We are still seeing mandated overtime,” she said. “Working short is a norm now, that’s absolutely expected. No one expects to have full staff when they go to work anymore.”

The Canadian Health Coalition (CHC) calls the report ‘alarming’ saying the inability to access care in a timely fashion is a Canada-wide problem.

“Everyone trusts that the health system will be there when we need it, so it’s an absolute tragedy when a lack of access caused by delays in receiving health care costs someone their life,” said Steven Staples, the National Director of Policy and Advocacy with the CHC. “I personally spent 14 hours in a hospital waiting room in a different province this weekend waiting for care. I saw many people simply give up and go home without ever seeing a doctor.”

Staples has called on Manitoba’s Health Minister to provide more information about these incidents going forward.

Uzoma Asagwara in a statement said they are taking every incident seriously.

“Manitobans deserve a health-care system that is safe, transparent, and accountable. These reports are part of that commitment,” said Asagwara. “They help us understand where things are not working as they should and where changes are needed to prevent similar situations from happening again.”

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s monthly wait time report shows that, in February, the median wait time across all Winnipeg hospitals exceeded four hours, with the longest delays recorded at St. Boniface Hospital, where patients faced average waits of more than seven hours.

Dr. Noam Katz is an emergency room physician at St. Boniface Hospital. He said wait times and staffing shortages continue to impact the health-care system.

“It is incredibly demoralizing for everyone in the system and particularly for the people that are working on the frontlines,” he said. “We are doing the best we can with the resources that we have.”

“Everybody is struggling because we see these things happening directly in front of us when we are working in the emergency department,” he said. “Nobody wants to see anybody waiting and suffering and not getting the care that they deserve.”

‘How many people have to die?’

For Sheri Ross, the failures in the health-care system have impacted her personally. Her sister Stacey, 55, died after lengthy delays at St. Boniface Hospital.

On Jan. 4, Stacey was experiencing severe chest pain and went to the emergency room at Winnipeg’s St. Boniface Hospital. Sheri said her sister waited more than 12 hours before being told her sickness was a virus and she was sent home.

But her condition worsened and she returned by ambulance to the same hospital on Jan. 15, waiting more than 11 hours before being admitted. She died from cardiac arrest shortly after being admitted.

The case was classified as a critical incident, and that investigation is ongoing.

Sheri says it’s frustrating to see no changes to the health-care system were made before her sister died.

“It’s really frustrating because I don’t understand why nothing is getting done,” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense. If there are that many people that have died because of wait times, why are things not changing and changing fast?”

“How many people have to die before there is change?” she asked. “Something has to change. Until then, I think we are absolutely hooped.”