Winnipeg ER, urgent care wait times improved minimally in March, but patient volumes rose: Shared Health

Wait times at Winnipeg emergency departments and urgent care centres saw minor improvements in March, but overall patient volumes and the percentage of them who left without being seen increased, according to Shared Health and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Median wait times in March decreased by about four minutes to 2.7 hours at Winnipeg hospitals, a Thursday news release from Shared Health says.

The 90th percentile, or the top 10 per cent of waits, remained virtually unchanged at 7.57 hours in March, which is a 36-second improvement from February, the release says.

The median wait for emergency or urgent care patients to be admitted to an inpatient unit improved by 30 minutes from February, to 21.28 hours.

But overall patient volumes rose from 750 per day in February to 757.7 in March. The overall percentage of patients who left hospitals without being seen increased from 12.1 per cent in February to 12.5 per cent in March.

Shared Health says the rate of patients who left the adult emergency department at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre HSCwithout being seen also rose from 23.4 per cent in February to 24.7 per cent in March.

Wait times not at pre-pandemic levels

While the small improvements were encouraging to see following the respiratory virus season, more work needs to be done for median wait times and patient flows to pre-pandemic levels, HSC's Winnipeg's chief operating officer Shawn Young said in the release.

He says more steps are being taken to improve those factors, including a new minor treatment clinic at the HSC. The clinic is expected to open next summer and treat 22,000 patients each year, the release says.

Winnipeggers should still seek help during emergencies by calling 911 or going to an emergency department or urgent care centre, Shared Health says, but the sickest and most injured patients will continue to be prioritized.

Wait times for emergency departments, urgent care centres, walk-in connected care clinics and walk-in clinics can be found in real-time online.