STARS air ambulance’s operations are being temporarily relocated from Winnipeg to Brandon to help out in the region after an area hospital was forced to shutter due to flooding.
The Prairie Mountain Health region said the move is expected to reduce transport and response times for patients requiring rapid escalation to higher levels of care.
The Dauphin Region Health Centre was forced to evacuate its patients and close on July 1 after the region experienced severe flooding.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
STARS flew 1,181 missions in the province during the 2025-26 fiscal year. The air ambulance’s operations will temporarily relocate from Winnipeg to Brandon to help out in the region after the Dauphin Region Health Centre was forced to shutter due to flooding.
The hospital’s basement flooded and power was knocked out, which caused significant damage to the facility’s HVAC system. Fifty-four patients were sent to nearby health centres, including 24 patients who were transferred to the Brandon hospital.
Experts are assessing the damage this week to determine what is necessary to restore services, the notice said.
STARS provides critical care and patient transfers across Manitoba. In the 2025-26 fiscal year, it flew 1,181 missions in the province, its website states.
The Free Press has reached out to STARS to ask how response times will be affected by the move to the Parkland region.
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Premier Wab Kinew previously said he was told the Dauphin health facility may not reopen for nine to 12 months and called the situation “unacceptable.” He said the province planned to throw a ton of resources into bringing the hospital back online as soon as possible.
The health region’s update says it and Shared Health Diagnostic Services are planning to restore blood, X-ray and ECG services to Dauphin in a temporary setting while repairs are underway. The notice did not provide a date for when the temporary facility will open.
All cancer care services previously provided at a clinic in the Dauphin hospital have moved to new locations, some within Dauphin, and some in other communities.
— with files from the Brandon Sun
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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