Canada News
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority outlines changes coming next week
WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is making sure health practitioners are prepared for a slew of changes coming next week.
Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says the changes are intended to improve quality and timeliness of patient care.
They were announced in the spring as part of a response to a 2015 report covering excessive wait times, high number of patient transfers and limited physicians and resources across the province.
The report was written by Nova Scotia-based health care consultant Dr. David Peachey following hundreds of conversations with Manitobans from across the province.
The changes include converting Victoria Hospital’s emergency department to an urgent care centre; closing urgent care at Misericordia Health Centre; and increasing volumes at St. Boniface, Grace and Health Sciences Centre emergency departments.
The health authority says changes affecting other sites across the region will begin in spring 2018, and will involve enhancements to emergency departments and treatment spaces.
“Winnipeggers have been forced to endure some of the longest emergency wait times in Canada,” says Goertzen.
“Our city’s hospitals have fallen behind their counterparts when compared to the national average in other key measurements, such as length of hospital stay and access to diagnostics and specialty services.”
