Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Construction is done on a new hospital in Portage la Prairie, but it won’t begin accepting patients next fall as planned because health-care administrators want more time to prepare staff for the transition.
Southern Health notified staff members the November target date would be pushed to next spring “to allow for a longer runway to complete system implementation, staff training, and operational readiness,” an internal memo sent to staff Wednesday states.
“The No. 1 priority for the health region is the ability to deliver excellent patient care in a safe environment,” a Southern Health spokesperson said in a statement to CBC News.
“The training to prepare staff for the transition to the new facility is underway and will continue as we prepare for opening day. Taking the necessary time now will accommodate the integration of this new technology into day-to-day operations and patient care.”
The statement adds that new staff are actively being trained ahead of the facility opening.
Southern Health announced in January construction on the new Portage Regional Health Centre was complete.
The two-storey facility includes 114 acute care beds and will provide medical care, palliative care, rehabilitation, births, surgeries and a range of specialized care services, Southern Health said.
The former Progressive Conservative government announced in 2021 it would build a new hospital in Portage la Prairie, hometown of then-premier Brian Pallister, to meet the needs of the city and surrounding areas. Of Manitoba’s five health regions, Southern Health had the fastest-growing population at the time.
The PCs simultaneously announced plans that year to enhance services at Brandon Regional Health Centre, in the Prairie Mountain Health region.
Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, seen here during question period Thursday, says, ‘Our priority is making sure that everyone does this the right way.’ (Bryce Hoye/CBC)
NDP Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced last week that the Brandon expansion of 30 more medicine beds and a new critical care centre is wrapping up and will begin accepting patients in a phased approach this spring. More front-line vacancies still need to be filled to ensure appropriate staff-to-bed ratios are in place, Asagwara said.
The minister said the province has been in talks with leadership at Southern Health about the desire to push back the Portage opening date.
“Our priority is making sure that everyone does this the right way so that patients get the best care possible, and so we’re going to support the regional health authority. We’re going to support the folks on the ground to make sure that all these key areas have the right human resources to deliver care,” Asagwara said in an interview after question period Thursday.
“If it can open earlier [than April], that’s great, right? But our priority is just making sure that it can be fully staffed, properly staffed and the best care is being provided to folks who need that care.”
Tory MLA Jeff Bereza questions the explanation for delaying the opening. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
Asagwara was unable to say whether there are any cost overruns associated with pushing back the hospital’s opening date, adding opening a facility of that size and complexity takes time. The minister accused the PCs of spending their time in power cutting services.
“They spent two terms of their time cutting health care, firing nurses, cutting the services and the resources that were needed to fully staff a hospital like this,” Asagwara said. “We were actually playing catch up…. So, this isn’t a quick process.”
Portage la Prairie MLA Jeff Bereza raised the delay in question period. The PC MLA later told journalists he’s toured the new facility and that it’s “gorgeous, it’s beautiful, it’s ready to go.”
Bereza questioned the explanation for why the hospital opening has been delayed, saying he wouldn’t “take that at face value one bit.”
‘The scheduling has already started in the new hospital, and now that’s all for naught,’ Bereza says of the delay. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)
He said he’s concerned some staff hired under the expectation they would be starting Nov. 1 might quit instead of waiting to start work at the hospital next spring.
“The training has started. I talked to a person last night that was devastated. The scheduling has already started in the new hospital, and now that’s all for naught,” Bereza said.
“I am so sorry for all Manitobans to know that people are going to have to wait, just like we’re waiting for the MRI.”
The Tory’s original commitment to build a new hospital did not include plans for an MRI, though Bereza and some doctors have called for one in the past few years.