Patient dies waiting for treatment in Winnipeg as nurses continue to be overwhelmed
Posted March 1, 2023 5:37 pm.
Last Updated March 1, 2023 6:59 pm.
A patient died while waiting for treatment in the emergency department at the Health Sciences Centre on Monday. Manitoba’s Nurses Union says nurses have been voicing concerns for some time, suggesting this might happen as hospitals continue to be overwhelmed.
“This is something that nurses have been voicing concerns about for a very long time. One of them said this is my biggest fear and unfortunately that fear has come to fruition,” explained Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union.
“It is evident in every facility in this province… we definitely have a nursing shortage in this province that is critical at this point.”
Jackson says due to patient overcrowding and a lack of healthcare workers, often times nurses aren’t able to keep their eyes on every patient at all times.
“We have the beds, but we don’t have the nurses to care for patients in those beds so those beds are closed and patients remain in the emergency department and it’s a domino from there,” Jackson explained.
In an email statement to CityNews, a spokesperson for Shared Health writes, “While privacy legislation prevents us from speaking to specifics of a patient case, we are able to confirm that we are investigating a potential critical incident that occurred during a one-hour window on February 27 in the HSC Winnipeg emergency department.”
On Wednesday, Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced that nearly 350 already trained healthcare workers from the Philippines will soon be making their way to Manitoba. But when it came to addressing wait times she referenced a PSA campaign to divert patients away from Emergency Departments.
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“You saw the billboards all over the city, we talked about that last year in terms of educating individuals about where they should be for the right type of care that they need,” said Gordon.
And when challenged on whether she was putting the fault on patients, the minister walked away.
What followed almost immediately after were statements from both Manitoba’s NDP and Liberal leaders.
“Well, I think that Manitobans expect when they show up to the ER that they’re going to get the healthcare that they need. It’s that simple. If you show up in an ER you should be cared for. And that’s what folks who work in those centres want to deliver and any elected official in Manitoba should be matching that commitment and certainly not running away from accountability questions,” said Wab Kinew, Leader of the Opposition NDP.
Dougald Lamont, Manitoba Liberal Leader, added, “When you have a patient who is in distress in a hallway and no one is listening, that’s a terrifying prospect. And I keep hearing from people across Manitoba, in Winnipeg, in rural Manitoba and the north, they’re praying they don’t get sick and they don’t have to go to the hospital because they don’t think they’re going to be safe there.”
Meanwhile, Jackson says recruiting more nurses is a step in the right direction, but the bigger focus should be on retaining the ones that are already here.
“Even if they are able to hit their target of 300 nurses, it’s drop in the bucket. We need every nurse that’s in the system to stay in the system.”
