Article content

Wait times for emergency room patients admitted to hospital are down sharply so far this year, according to new Winnipeg Regional Health Authority data.

And apparently all the WRHA had to do was modernize how it manages its patient flow systems across city hospitals.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or ER wait times down 29% this year Back to video

According to the data released this week, the length of time it takes for patients admitted to hospital to get a bed on a medical ward dropped 29% to 30.7 hours so far in 2017-18, down from 43.5 hours in 2016-17. It’s a significant decline and it’s far lower than it’s been since at least 2012. It’s also slightly below the Canadian average of 32.6 hours.

However, little of the decrease can be attributed to the Pallister government’s hospital reorganization plan, which includes shutting down three ERs in Winnipeg and consolidating acute care services to three facilities.

Some has to do with changes hospitals began this year to improve patient flow, the WRHA says. Most of it has to do with a new electronic patient flow system in hospitals that better communicates to ER staff when hospital beds are available, according to the WRHA’s acting chief operating officer Lori Lamont.