Wait times up at Winnipeg's Grace Hospital despite new ER

Despite an effort to slash wait times by openinga new emergency department at Winnipeg's Grace Hospital, patients are lingering in the waiting areas longer than they did before the expansion.

A recent wait time report from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority says the median wait time in July was 1.93 hours, which is an 18 per cent jump from the same month a year earlier.

That number is also up from June of this yearthe first full monththe new emergency room was open when patients waited an average of 1.73 hours before they were admitted, once again longer than the median July 2017wait of 1.63 hours.

Though the$43.8-million build wassupposed to reduce wait times at an emergency room five times larger than its predecessor, a WRHAofficialsaid she isn't startled by thetrendin the opposite direction.

"We did anticipate with the opening of the new emergency department that there would be increase in volume, so an increase in the number of patients," saidKrista Williams, the health authority's chief health operations officer.

Staffing challenges

In turn, the hospitalre-evaluated workflow and tried to increase staffing, but its efficiency was hampered by unfilled vacancies.

The hospital will need to makecontinuousadjustments to reduce wait times, Williams said.

"We're notgoing to lessen our efforts right now," she said. "Weneed to do everything aggressively to do what we can, becausewe know how important wait times are to the public."

She's optimistic the hospital will not only slash the average wait, but help the province reach the national wait time average of 1.1 hours.

Other emergency departments in Winnipegalso experiencedhigher wait times in July than during the same month last year.

Concordia's average wait of 2.1hours in Julywas a 24per cent increase from 2017, while Seven Oaks' 1.48 hour wait was an increase of 38 per cent from the same month last year.

The average wait at Health Sciences Centre's adult ER, though, was downthree per cent in July from the median wait a year earlier, the data shows.

Overall, the median wait time at Winnipeg hospitalswas 1.6hours in July 2018, 11 per cent higher than in July 2017.

The findings come as the regional health authority undergoes a significant overhaulto slay wait times and find efficiencies.By summer 2019, half of the city's six emergency rooms will have been closed or converted to a different purpose.

"The changes in consolidation are looking at all the changes we can make in the entire system to support quality and safety, but also improving the wait times for patients," Williamssaid.

In April, the WRHAsaid wait times had dropped by an average of 16 per cent overall from the previous year.

The median wait, however, increased steadily over the winter months after the first phase of the health-care overhaul was introduced last October. Health officials blamed the flu for the month-by-month uptick.

Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, said she can't see how the overhaul is working when Grace patients are waiting longer.

"It has not, in any way, improved efficiency," she said.

Jackson wouldn't decry the new building expansion as a waste of money, but she says theprovince should invite nurses todevise a solution thatimproves wait times.

"Wevery much want to meet at the table."