May 27, 2021

Treaty 1 Territory, Homeland of the Métis Nation, Winnipeg MB— Today the Manitoba NDP shared government documents revealing there are fewer ICU nurses working in Winnipeg now then in 2019. The PC’s cut nursing positions when they reduced the number of ICU beds across the province and rammed through major health care consolidation.

“Manitoban families should not worry about whether they will be able to receive hospital care in times of crisis,” said Kinew. “But when you look at the cuts this government made right through the pandemic, it’s obvious why our hospitals are collapsing into chaos now. These cuts and consolidation have put us further behind in the battle against the third wave than we should have been, and we now see the devastating toll. Manitobans deserve leaders who will invest in nurses not disrespect them."

The NDP tabled Shared Health documents that show the number of filled critical care nursing positions dropped from 293 in January 2019 to 285 in January 2021, meaning there are fewer nurses working now in a pandemic.

The NDP noted that many redeployed staff working in ICUs right now will likely not stay in the department. They urged the PC government to take steps today to ensure those positions are filled permanently in the long-term.

“Evidence keeps piling up that show the PCs would rather over-work already exhausted nurses than spend the time to listen to their calls for help and take appropriate action,” said Uzoma Asagwara, NDP Healthcare critic. “Yesterday we learned that a critically-ill COVID-19 patient has passed away because they were forced out of province for care. This loss, and many others, could have been prevented if the Government just listened to the dangers of having the hospitals short staffed in this pandemic.”

The aforementioned documents can be viewed here, here and here.