In the Manitoba legislature on Monday, Progressive Conservative Health Critic Cameron Friesen said the problem of lengthy patient off-load wait times at Winnipeg hospitals is getting steadily worse. The city, which runs the ambulance service, is fining the health region for waits of over an hour to offload patients because of hold-ups in the ER. He said that in the first eight months of this year the fines have totalled $1 million.
Health Minister Erin Selby pointed out that most patients are dealt with promptly, and she alluded to the role nurse practitioners play in seeing patients in other care settings. Manitoba celebrated its first Nurse Practitioners’ Day Monday, and Ms. Selby said NPs at the province’s four QuickCare clinics have seen 50,000 patients to date. “Nurse practitioners are a very important part of what we’re doing when it comes to emergency rooms and making sure that people are getting the care they need when they need it, the right care at the right time.”
