Unions, PCs skeptical as Manitoba premier promises end to long waits in health care in 2026

Some health-care leaders ar inquiring how Manitoba premiere Wab Kinew put up confidently  adjudge his government will end long waits for health-care services by the end of 2026.

In a year-end interview, Kinew was asked when his government will fix the long waits at emergency departments and for surgeries and diagnostic testing. He replied it would happen in 2026.

Kinew said the 3,500 net new health-care workers hired in the past two years has put Manitoba in the position to tackle long waits for medical care.

"People have been saying we need more staff, we've added more staff and we'll continue to add more," he said.

He explained his new health-care pledges from the November throne speech are possible because of the added resources.

"People are saying that we need to guarantee the patient experience, the safety for the patient, so we're bringing in a patient safety charter," he said.

"People said we need to end mandating [overtime] for nurses, we're going to start doing that. People have said we need to have staff-to-patient ratios, we're going to start doing that." 

He also pointed to a new initiative, launched at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, where patient discharges are now reviewed by a team of health-care professionals rather than individual staff. Kinew said the change has led to faster discharges.

But despite the premier's confidence, Kinew's promise to end long waits was met with skepticism from some health-care leaders.

"There seems to be some extreme confidence, but without the substance that I think is necessary to make statements that the health-care system and wait times and surgical wait times are going to be fixed this coming year," said Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals.

"I have real concerns that the numbers don't align with a statement like that."

For example, median wait times at Winnipeg hospitals has trended upwards since the COVID-19 pandemic, now regularly exceeding 3.5 hours, while waits for several key surgeries — including hip and knee operations — have been rising this year.

The premier didn't explain what a fix to long wait times would look like.

Regardless, Linklater doesn't believe the health-care system has enough staff to achieve what Kinew wants.

"As much as I would hope that the premier is right, I just don't see the reality of what we see in health-care aligning with that," he said.

Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said she wishes she could muster the same optimism as Kinew.

She thinks the premier has political motivations for insisting a fix to long waits is around the corner. The NDP made improving the health-care system the primary message of its successful 2023 election campaign.

"I think politically the government needs to say we're making progress because they got [into office] on a health-care platform," she said.

Jackson maintains there are not enough nurses to advance the NDP government's throne speech pledges, although Kinew has been saying nursing levels are already sufficient to begin phasing out mandatory overtime in priority areas.

She said one nurse felt dismissed after a brief conversation with the premier at a legislature event earlier this month, when she told the premier there were not enough nurses to end mandatory overtime but the premier said otherwise.

"She felt incredibly disillusioned with this government. It's a shame because when you're on the front line" of the health-care system, "you can see exactly what's happening," Jackson said.

Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook said she's "baffled" the premier is still insisting there are enough nurses to advance his new priorities, including an end to long waits.

"Anyone who has visited a hospital recently will tell you that's not true, front-line nurses will tell you that's not true, and all of his promises hinge on that being true," Cook said.

"That tells me he can't do what he says he's going to do."

She believes Kinew is feeling the pressure to improve the health-care system because she argues he's failed to make the improvements he's promised in the 2023 election.

Premier vows end to long health-care waits in 2026

Provincial affairs reporter

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