One-third of Prairie Mountain Health Region emergency rooms were closed over the long weekend.
Staffing shortages have continued to force closures and reduced hours across the region, and Health Minister Audrey Gordon says the government is continuing its work to address the issue.
"Our government, since taking office, has been actively working towards increasing the number of staff that are in, not just the Winnipeg Health Region, but in the Prairie Mountain area, and we will continue to take those steps recognizing that not taking these steps will continue to lead to the staff shortages and some of the closures that we've seen."
Opposition leader Wab Kinew said the long-term retention of staff in rural communities would help improve the level of care. Minister Gordon also touched on the issue of retaining staff.
"I was, last week in Erikson, Hamiota, I was in Shoal Lake, Dauphin, and Swan River, and it really gave me an opportunity to talk to front-line healthcare workers, and what they said is they wanted to see us incentivize and encourage individuals who are currently living in the communities to enter the healthcare system."
Minister Gordon said she wanted to ensure people that nursing is still a rewarding, and sought-after career.
"It's just about ensuring that we increase the number of seats as we've done as a government. We are headed towards, as you know, 400 seats, we're up to 289. We have to get nurses through the system as quickly as possible, so that is being done. We have our undergraduate nurse educator program, which allows third and fourth-year nursing students to go into the system, and then our internationally educated nurses. Making it faster and more streamlined for them to gain licensure and go into the system."
