ALC patient issue needs Manitoba-wide solution

“My constituents understand members opposite may talk a big game, but they are carrying on the NDP way, ignoring rural Manitoba … Residents are far more likely to see STARS air ambulance in real life than this Minister of Health, who seems to be suffering from the acute case of Perimeteritis.”

— Turtle Mountain MLA Doyle Piwniuk, April 2025

“An MRI machine located in the Portage regional health facility will reduce transportation costs for patients … It will bring care closer to home and reduce wait times … They just stay inside the Perimeter — they got Perimeteritis — and don’t experience what actually happens in rural Manitoba.”

— Red River North MLA Jeff Wharton, May 2026

It’s a standard talking point for many rural-Manitoba MLAs — the NDP government, with its MLAs mostly based out of Winnipeg, tend to see issues of health care from a largely Winnipeg-centric world view. And as a result, they have blinders on when it comes to health care issues that fall outside Manitoba’s capital city.

While it’s not a fair accusation when it comes to all government health-care decisions, it’s not entirely without merit either.

A week ago, we reported that more patients are receiving medical attention that they don’t need in hospitals across the province. A report published by the Canadian Institute of Health Information included data that shows the percentage of patient days spent in alternate level of care has increased in every provincial health authority, except for Prairie Mountain Health.

Just to recap, alternate level of care — or ALC — is a designation a patient receives from clinical staff when they’re medically stable and don’t need acute-level treatment but are unable to leave the hospital because they’re waiting for another form of care.

Such patients could be waiting to leave the hospital for several reasons, such as admission into a personal care home or a long-term care facility. It can also include a patient who is waiting for housing, if the person doesn’t have a place to be discharged to.

This presents a problem for hospitals because when patients are admitted to the hospital through the emergency department, they’re often sent into acute care beds — the same ones occupied by ALC patients. And when an ALC patient occupies an acute care bed, new people seeking medical attention are then forced to wait for that bed to become available.

“With more ALC patients, wait times (are) growing and there’s less and less acute care beds, and it’s just an endless circle,” Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said in an interview with the Sun last week. “So as a result of this, what we see are extended wait times in our ER departments.”

Interestingly, overall emergency department wait times in rural health regions (not including PMH) have increase by 17 per cent over the last two years. In fact, the Southern Health Authority in particular has witnessed the largest increase, with a 40 per cent rise in ALC patient days.

While Prairie Mountain Health had the third highest percentage among the province’s six health authorities, it was the only region that saw a decrease this fiscal year — from 32.3 per cent to 26.9 per cent.

Not only does this situation increase emergency room wait times, it also becomes expensive for the patients.

The PMH website says that “applicants admitted to hospital begin paying the residential charge once their application has been approved to the wait list” for a long-term care facility. And though the province maintains that patients whose care levels change to ALC “do not pay fees,” it was reported in the 2023-24 fiscal year that PMH charged nearly $3 million to people staying in the hospital.

It’s important to note that the rise in ALC patients is affecting Winnipeg hospitals too, not just rural ones. The Winnipeg Free Press reported this week that about 600 hospital patients in Winnipeg are designated as requiring an alternate level of care while waiting for long-term care spots, a housing unit, or other community supports on an average day.

Unfortunately, the provincial health minister only addressed the growth of ALC patients in Winnipeg in its announcement this week.

On Monday, the province announced it was adding 103 community-based care spaces in Winnipeg for patients who need shelter or specialized supports in order to be discharged. Speaking at a news conference at Deer Lodge Centre in Winnipeg’s St. James district, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara told reporters the system will gain nearly 40,000 hospital “bed days” per year, with patients receiving “the right care in the right place” when all the spaces are up and running.

The new spaces will be added to Deer Lodge, Siloam Mission, an Indigenous-run wellness centre on Notre Dame Avenue, the Ten Ten Sinclair Housing Inc. and the N’Dinawemak emergency shelter — all located in Winnipeg. The province also said a mobile support team will help 25 patients who require six to 12 months of additional support to return home from hospital.

We’re glad to see the province actively addressing the growing ALC patient issue. But Manitoba-wide problems require Manitoba-wide solutions, and it’s more than a little disappointing to see the lack of investment in rural Manitoba on this issue.

All it does is feed the narrative that the provincial government can’t see past the Perimeter Highway.