Wednesday, August 30, 2023 | Treaty 1 and Dakota Territory, Homeland of the Red River Métis, Winnipeg MB - Today, alongside Concordia community members, Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew laid out his plan to build a new Concordia Emergency Room and make an immediate investment in surgical teams to help Manitobans waiting for surgery.  

“Under Heather Stefanson, thousands of Manitobans are waiting for hip and knee surgery,” said Kinew. “The Concordia hospital should be part of the solution but when the PCs closed their ER, the hospital lost the ability to perform more complex surgeries. The Concordia hospital has a nationally renowned surgical team and we will remove the barriers the PCs put in place that prevent these surgeons from practicing to their full potential by building a new ER and creating a Centre of Excellence for joint surgery.”   

The demand for surgeries has increased. The province’s wait time dashboard shows more than 2400 people are waiting for knee replacement surgery, the highest number of patients waiting on record. At the same time, FIPPA documents show Heather Stefanson said she would spend $120 million on surgeries but in fact she only spent $45 million or 38% on surgeries in Manitoba. $6 million dollars was spent on “administration” of the Task Force. 

As part of the investment at Concordia, Kinew promised to immediately establish step-down units with higher nurse-to-patient ratios and enhanced monitoring to help patients recovering from surgery in order to increase surgical capacity.  

"When the PCs shut down our ER they left an entire community without healthcare,” said Tracy Schmidt, NDP candidate for Rossmere. “But now help is on the way. Under an NDP government not only will you get your ER back, but we’ll also help Manitobans get the surgeries they need faster. It's all a part of our plan to get you better healthcare, closer to home.”  

-30-