The first changes to Winnipeg’s emergency room system will be put into effect one week today.
On Oct. 3 Victoria Hospital will begin the process of converting its ER to an Urgent Care Centre.
The Urgent Care Centre at Misericorida will officially close at 8 p.m. on Oct. 2.
On Tuesday the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) outlined how it has been preparing for the overhaul.
The three acute hospitals, St. Boniface, Grace and HSC, have made changes to their in-patient areas to handle patients that would have normally gone to Victoria Hospital.
The WRHA said Victoria’s ER typically saw 88 patients per day, but anticipates at least half would still be able to seek treatment at its new urgent care centre, with the remainder moved to St. Boniface, Grace or HSC.
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“Winnipeg’s emergency department, despite best work by clinicians, has continued to struggle with long wait times, ” Lori Lamont with the WRHA said. “More isn’t necessarily better.”
Vice-President and Chief Nursing and Health Professionals Officer, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
City paramedics have been practicing for the changes, outlining Tuesday what Winnipeggers seeking care in the south end should do.
Under the current system, using a scenario of a person experiencing chest pains, a person who’s family drives them to the hospital would be assessed by the ER team and then transferred to St. Boniface for cardiac care, and then potentially back to Victoria.
Starting next week that patient who is driven to Victoria by family would still be assessed by the urgent care team, and then moved to St. Boniface where they would remain.
Sneath said many patients seeking critical care, for example a heart attack, are already being routed to St. Boniface.
What they’ve largely been preparing for is patients seeking more acute care.
“There may be a bit of an increase in transport times, but for us, if we are having that patient go to the right hospital in the first place, and not have to do a subsequent move of that patient, it makes a lot more sense.”
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Over the past few weeks Lamont said they’ve conducted various tests, and trial scenarios to see how the new system would cope.
“We’ve practiced those plans, we’ve tested those scenarios and we’ve seen significant improvement in those tests,” Lori Lamont said. “We are very confident they will be able to meet the changes.”
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