August 29, 2023

Treaty 1 and Dakota Territory, Homeland of the Red River Métis, Winnipeg MB – New data obtained by the Official Opposition reveals that bed occupancy rates at Health Sciences Centre are dangerously high.

“Heather Stefanson and the PCs cut hospital beds, fired 300 nurses, and closed three emergency rooms in Winnipeg,” said Uzoma Asagwara, NDP Critic for Health. “Because of her cuts, our hospitals are overflowing and if Heather Stefanson is re-elected, we know she will cut health care again. The people who broke our health care system can’t be trusted to fix it.”

Documents obtained by the Official Opposition through Freedom of Information requests show that bed occupancy at HSC is getting worse. From December 2022 to May 2023, bed occupancy worsened to 107.7% in critical care and 103.8% in medicine wards. Medical experts recommend a bed occupancy rate of approximately 85% so hospitals are better able to handle peak periods.

In addition to dangerously high bed occupancy rates, Manitoba also has the worst emergency room wait times in Canada, as was revealed in new data published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information last week.

“Every Manitoban knows closing Emergency Rooms made health care worse in our province, but Heather Stefanson doesn’t care and she hasn’t learned from her mistakes. Manitobans have a choice on October 3rd – they can vote for more health cuts under Stefanson, or they can vote for better health care with an NDP government.”

See the FIPPA document here.