HSC nurses meeting with health minister about ER staff shortages

The average length of stay in the ER was steady but still well above pre-pandemic levels at 20.38 hours. (Source: CTV News Winnipeg)

Staffing shortages at Winnipeg's emergency rooms and urgent care centres are still translating into longer wait times for emergency care, with nurses being brought in from other departments to help with the workload.

Health Sciences Centre (HSC) chief operating officer Dr. Shawn Young said despite their busy emergency room, there are still hundreds of vacancies at the hospital, meaning nurses with resuscitation skills from other areas are working in the ER.

"So when we are short on a particular night or a particular day we've been asking the ICU to help and most of the time they have been able to help with one, two or three nurses," said Young.

In August, the average wait time for all urgent care centres and emergency rooms in Winnipeg was a little more than 3 hours– 22 minutes longer than the previous month.

The average length of stay in the ER was steady but still well above pre-pandemic levels at 20.38 hours.

As well, 16 per cent of patients left the ER without being treated, nearly 30 per cent at HSC.

Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union (MNU), said HSC adult emergency nurses are meeting Thursday evening with Health Minister Audrey Gordon to discuss the current problems.

"Nurses need to be able to talk about their experiences and give real life examples of what's happening right now and where they're seeing some failures," said Jackson. "And I think that would be very helpful for the nurses to actually be able to bring those examples and those issues forward."

Jackson said she's heard 30 nurses will be attending the meeting.

A government spokesperson tells CTV News Winnipeg that Minister Gordon has met with healthcare staff at various levels over the last year and more meetings are planned for the coming weeks to get feedback directly from HSC ER nurses.

- With files from Michelle Gerwing