Nurses union questions explanation for delayed opening of new Neepawa hospital

BRANDON — The new Neepawa Health Centre — initially expected to welcome its first patients early next year — has had its opening delayed until late summer or early fall.

Prairie Mountain Health CEO Trina Slate confirmed the postponement Wednesday, saying it would allow “appropriate time to onboard and train staff and familiarize teams with the new facility.”

The hospital, more than three times larger than the current facility, was first announced as a $127-million construction project in December 2021 by the former Progressive Conservative government, with a tentative completion date in 2025.

As of January, the hospital was reported to be 75 per cent completed with an anticipated opening date in early 2027, Prairie Mountain Health said at the time.

Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, questions the reasons given for the delay by the health authority.

“I don’t know whether that is accurate about the training of the staff,” Jackson said. “I do not know why you would hold off opening a facility to train staff in an old facility,” she said. “Even if you don’t have enough staff to open every bed in the facility, you can move into it as you recruit staff.”

Once opened, the new Neepawa Health Centre will feature 60 acute-care beds — almost double the number of beds in the existing hospital — plus a larger emergency room, a hemodialysis suite and “enhanced space for a number of other programs,” the Prairie Mountain Health website says.

Progressive Conservative MLA Jodie Byram, who represents the area, said she wants an opportunity to speak with hospital leadership about the delay.

“We’re already feeling and sensing exasperated resources at times, so having that delay is going to just maybe add a little bit more pressure,” she said at an unrelated event in Carberry.

“We’ve seen the closure of Dauphin hospital (due to flood damage) and how the closure is affecting the patients in northern Manitoba. If (Neepawa) hospital was ready to go… it would have been an opportunity to have that patient caseload come to the new facility.”

The opening of the new Portage la Prairie hospital, originally set for this fall, was delayed until next spring for the same reason, even though construction was completed in January.

Jackson said she thinks staff at both hospitals will be “extremely disappointed” by the delays.

“We hire new staff all the time and they’re trained… whether they’re in the old building or the new building,” she said. “That, to me, does not sound like a feasible reason.”

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara did not grant an interview Wednesday but provided an email statement.

“As construction progresses, we’re working with Prairie Mountain Health to recruit and train staff to ensure teams are familiar with the new space before welcoming patients,” the statement said.

Asagwara did not respond to questions about the current cost of the project or the staff training issues raised by Jackson.

— Brandon Sun