Premier says she didn’t know COVID patients were being sent out of province last spring Then-health minister Stefanson rejects Opposition accusation she misled Manitobans about ICU capacity during third wave By: Danielle Da Silva Posted: 3:18 PM CST Monday, Mar. 7, 2022 Last Modified: 5:53 PM CST Monday, Mar. 7, 2022 Updates

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Heather Stefanson was unaware critically ill COVID-19 patients were being prepared for transfer to a Thunder Bay hospital last spring and, as health minister at the time, insisted local intensive-care units could handle the growing surge.

Stefanson, Manitoba’s premier since November, acknowledged Monday that it wasn’t until after the first Manitoban was sent out of the province May 18 that her office learned of the move; earlier that day she told reporters the province could expand ICU capacity to 170 beds.

Monday’s disclosure came after the Opposition NDP tabled the calendar of Shared Health chief executive officer Adam Topp in question period, claiming Stefanson misled Manitobans about the province’s ability to care for the sickest patients and was planning for imminent out-of-province transfers.

The calendar, obtained through a freedom of information request, shows Topp held a meeting on May 13 on the topic of intensive-care capacity at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and met earlier that day with Stefanson to discuss ICU capacity.

Stefanson rejected suggestions she misled Manitobans when she went on the record stating work was underway to add more critical-care nurses to ensure the health system could respond to the pressure of COVID-19.

“I was made aware of the first out-of-province patient transfer after clinicians made those decisions in rapidly evolving environment,” Stefanson said in a statement in response to questions from the Free Press. She did not hold a media availability after question period Monday.

“I understood Manitoba needed additional ICU capacity and as such was having daily briefings and incident command meetings with Shared Health and public health officials to be briefed on contingency plans,” the statement continued.

“Elected officials do not make clinical decisions about moving patients, those decisions are made by senior health leaders.”

NDP Leader Wab Kinew argued the premier ought to have known critically ill patients would be sent out of province during her meeting with Topp. The Opposition leader said the severity of the crisis in the province should have been clearly communicated by the former health minister.

“We know that this is one of the most difficult periods of the pandemic in Manitoba. It affected so many folks, and to see that the premier, who was then the health minister, mishandle and misled Manitobans on this file is a big concern,” Kinew said.

As health minister, Stefanson should have been aware the pressure building in Manitoba’s intensive-care units was too great to handle locally, based on the multiple briefings she had with health-care executives, Kinew said.

“It was very clear that the premier knew when she made these comments to the public that everything was fine, she knew better than that,” he said.

At the time, Stefanson said health-care leaders were focused on increasing staffing to meet critical-care demand.

“As the ICU numbers continue to grow, as we expect them to, over the course of the next couple of weeks… we will continue to ensure that we are staffing to be able to handle that capacity,” Stefanson told reporters on May 18. “If we have to redeploy staff, we’ll redeploy staff to ensure we handle the capacity.”

The day prior, then-chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa told reporters sending patients to Thunder Bay was an option Shared Health was exploring if capacity in Manitoba was exceeded, and cautioned local capacity was dependent on staffing. According to the province, up to 173 critical-care spaces could be functional if staff were available and assigned.

“I have not had any discussions with Ontario or Saskatchewan on helping us out but I think any possibility could be available to us if we would want to explore, if we needed to,” Siragusa said at the time.

However, front-line health-care providers were already raising alarms over intensive-care unit capacity, adding there wouldn’t be enough trained staff to care for patients as COVID cases rose, regardless of how many beds and ventilators were available, the Free Press reported.

In a statement Monday, a spokesperson for Shared Health said as part of contingency planning “to prepare for any and all circumstances,” conversations began with jurisdictions across Canada regarding critical-care capacity in May 2021.

“We all knew the ICUs were on the verge of being overrun, and so did the government.” – NDP Leader Wab Kinew

Documents show Stefanson met with Topp the evening of May 18. The following day, Stefanson said the decision to send critically ill Manitobans out of jurisdiction was made by health-care professionals following a surge in demand for beds.

Between May 13 and 17, there were 34 COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU beds in Manitoba, representing nearly half of the pre-pandemic capacity.

“We all knew the ICUs were on the verge of being overrun, and so did the government,” Kinew said. “That’s what these documents show. The government was making plans because they knew that the ICUs were about to run out of space.”

Over the course of the third wave, a total of 57 COVID-19 patients were transferred out of Manitoba and 12 died while being treated in facilities elsewhere.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

Danielle Da Silva
Reporter

Danielle Da Silva is a general assignment reporter.

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