A spike of patient admissions to city hospitals has prompted the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority to temporarily open more beds at four facilities.

Health officials are blaming the increase on a busy time of year.

The situation hasn't stopped some from questioning the Manitoba government's decision to close two Winnipeg ERs this summer as part of an ongoing health-care consolidation plan.

The emergency room at Health Sciences Centre was so busy Tuesday patients who would've been arriving by ambulance were sent elsewhere in advance -- the ER was only accepting ambulance patients with certain health conditions.

While that protocol has now ended, city ERs remain busy. But health officials say it appears the worst of it is now over.

Outside Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre, Ashern resident Diane Price shared her experience about what it was like when she arrived in the emergency room over the long weekend with a sick family member.

"I was here 'til midnight and there was, every chair was full in the ER,” said Price. “The nurses in that ER are just overrun. They’re just scrambling to help everybody.”

"It's a backlog and it's plugged right up."

Price's husband has lung cancer and was diagnosed at HSC with pneumonia.

He had to wait three hours before being admitted to the emergency room where he waited an additional 26 hours to be moved to a hospital bed.

"The nurses and the doctors can't do anything about it because there's no bed to put them in,” said Price. “And they're talking, our government's talking about closing Seven Oaks emergency room."

Winnipeg Regional Health Authority CEO Réal Cloutier said hospitals have been seeing a high number of patients for the past two weeks.

The demand has increased so much, 72 contingency beds have opened at HSC, St. Boniface, Seven Oaks and Grace hospitals.

Health officials said that's not unusual, especially for this time of year.

"New cases of influenza are declining but what we're seeing is a lot of respiratory type illnesses,” said Cloutier. “The viruses that you would normally see, again at this time of year, that are having an impact on people's health and their recovery period."

"Certainly people are sicker in the hospitals and we're having challenges around discharges."

Cloutier said the contingency beds have opened in existing units or spaces that can be used for patient care but none in hallways.

Those beds are being staffed with nurses working overtime, which their union says has taken a toll.

"When you're mandating staff on a daily basis to stay overtime and staff these units, that is a big concern for us,” said Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson. “It is not sustainable."

Cloutier said there's no question staff are facing additional pressure.

Despite concerns about the closure of Seven Oaks and Concordia ERs this summer, Cloutier said he's confident once the consolidation of city ERs is complete the health care system will be equipped to handle similar situations when they arise in the future.

"The plan is still intact,” said Cloutier. “There's strong confidence that the plan is appropriate."

When asked if more hospital beds are needed in Winnipeg, Cloutier said it's too early to know.

He said there are many factors to consider, including population growth and aging.

Cloutier said the number of beds is reviewed on an ongoing basis.