Overcrowded Grace Hospital emergency room ‘at the breaking point,’ nurse says

Volumes sometimes triple the ER's bed load, leaving patients in hallways and staff exhausted

By: CBC News Posted: 10:43 AM CDT Monday, May. 23, 2022

While the pandemic isn't straining hospitals to the same degree as before, the diagnosis for Winnipeg's health-care system is troubling and, in some cases, worsening. Wait times increased in March at every hospital, patients are waiting in ERs for days for an inpatient bed and chronic staffing shortages are widespread.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/05/2022 (851 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While the pandemic isn’t straining hospitals to the same degree as before, the diagnosis for Winnipeg’s health-care system is troubling and, in some cases, worsening. Wait times increased in March at every hospital, patients are waiting in ERs for days for an inpatient bed and chronic staffing shortages are widespread.

Grace Hospital has been particularly challenged. At any given time, as many as 20 patients are waiting in the hallway, said a nurse at the ER, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

“There are no call bells on the walls. There are no oxygen on the walls there,” the nurse said.