The first phase of St. Boniface Hospital’s new and improved emergency department opened its doors to patients Thursday. The new ED is billed as an inclusive, barrier-free facility aimed at improving patient care. It includes an expanded, central resuscitation area, a dedicated diagnostic imaging suite with a new CT scanner and X-ray machine, private exam rooms, and an expanded waiting room and triage area. Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara called the new facility a major advancement for the thousands who rely on the ER every year. “It means more space, better equipment, and stronger support for the health-care workers who are there in people’s most urgent moments,” they said in a news release. Construction began on the facility in April 2022 with an initial budget of $141 million—$10 million of which was covered by the St. Boniface Hospital Foundation. When finished, 18,600 sq. ft of existing space will be renovated and 86,200 sq. ft of new construction will be added—tripling the size of the previous ER. The next phase involves renovating the existing ED space, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) said in a news release. Patients and the public will continue to experience some construction impacts, including hoarded-off areas and temporary pathways. However, WRHA noted this will not impact care. The full emergency department is expected to be done and operational by next year. St. Boniface’s ED nurse vacancy rate falls: WRHA The health authority also reported a dramatic plunge in the hospital’s ED nurse vacancy rate. According to the WRHA, it fell from 24.3 per cent to 7.3 per cent between August 2024 to August of this year, which will help staff the ER’s beefed up capacity. The added space comes after a June report found St. Boniface Hospital had the longest median length of stay in the province, coming in at 10.5 hours – an increase of six minutes from the previous year and 48 minutes over the past five. The report was published by the Montreal Economic Institute and examined how much time patients across the country spent in emergency rooms from when they entered and registered to when they were discharged or admitted to other departments. The report covered April 1, 2024 to Feb. 28, 2025. - With files from CTV’s Milan Lukes
