More than 1 in 4 patients leaving Winnipeg ERs without being seen: study

Recently revealed data shows a significant number of patients in Winnipeg are still leaving emergency departments and urgent care centres without being seen by a physician, pointing to pressures faced across Canadian hospitals.

Figures released by Shared Health indicate that while some facilities have seen modest improvement in recent years, a substantial share of patients continue to leave before receiving a full medical assessment.

The highest rates were reported at Winnipeg’s busiest emergency departments, including Health Sciences Centre, where more than one in four patients left without being seen in the most recent reporting period.

Health officials say the issue is closely tied to patient volumes, staffing shortages and the need to prioritize the most critically ill.

“Anyone facing a medical emergency should seek care immediately,” a spokesperson on behalf of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) and Shared Health said.

In a statement to Global News, the organizations noted that emergency departments use nationally recognized triage protocols to determine which patients require immediate treatment.

However, the data points to a system that is overburdened, with wait times continuing to soar year on year.

In a live database viewed on Thursday, several Winnipeg emergency departments reported wait times stretching close to or beyond 10 hours.

Although exact times vary patient by patient, the data offers a snapshot of the reality for many.

Figures released by Shared Health suggest the trend has worsened notably since 2020, particularly at some of the city’s busiest facilities.

At Health Sciences Centre’s adult emergency department, the province’s largest and most critical care hub, the proportion of patients leaving without being seen more than doubled over the past several years.

In 2020, the rate stood at roughly 11 per cent. By 2025, it climbed sharply to more than 25 per cent in the most recent data.

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A similar pattern is also visible at the Health Sciences Centre’s children’s emergency department.

While the rate of patients who left without being seen was comparatively low in 2020 at just over two per cent, it rose in the following years, more than doubling by 2022. The figures have fluctuated since, but remain noticeably higher than pre-pandemic levels.

“Having any patient leave without being seen and cared for is not a desired outcome,” a Shared Health spokesperson said.

Shared Health says reducing the number of patients leaving without being seen remains a priority and points to ongoing efforts aimed at improving patient flow and capacity.

Those measures include adding health-care workers, increasing staffed beds and expanding access to community-based clinics and virtual care options.

The recent probe follows two major incidents that have sparked renewed concern across the country, where patients died while waiting for emergency services.

A recent incident in Winnipeg left a 55-year-old woman dead last month after waiting roughly 11 hours in the emergency department at St. Boniface Hospital, according to her family.

Stacey Ross was sent home with medication to fight a virus and told to “ride it out.”

Last December, an Edmonton father also passed away in the ER while waiting to be treated for severe chest pains.

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