Southern Health ERs missed all three performance targets as waits grew

Emergency departments in Manitoba's Southern Health region, including hospitals serving Winkler-Morden, Steinbach and Portage la Prairie, missed all three performance targets in 2025-26, its annual report shows. Nine in 10 patients were assessed within 6.6 hours, against a 3.9-hour target and up from 6.1 hours. One in eight left without being seen, and patients needing a bed waited a median 10.4 hours in emergency. The authority cites population growth, sicker patients, measles and wildfire evacuees; its staff vacancy rate held at 20 per cent. Only three of the region's 10 ERs run around the clock, the Manitoba Nurses Union says.