Winnipeg woman says little has changed since 26-hour ER wait in 2025

A Winnipeg woman who endured a 26-hour wait in a hospital emergency department in 2025 is expressing disappointment over what she perceives as a lack of progress in reducing wait times. Beverley Masters, 73, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996 and underwent treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation, which were successful for several years.

However, the cancer returned and spread, leading her to seek care at Grace Hospital's Cancer Care Manitoba ward. When the ward was temporarily shut down, she began visiting the Health Science Centre (HSC) in Winnipeg.

In October 2025, while a patient at HSC, Masters was given new medication and ended up in the emergency department weeks later. She claims she was not allowed to go to the urgent care and had to take an ambulance to the emergency ward, which is where she faced a dramatic 26-hour wait. Masters recounted her experience, saying she was not actually in the ER for the first 14 hours but rather sat on a stretcher in a hallway, where other people on stretchers joined her.

She was eventually given a 15-minute ultrasound and blood thinners, the same treatment she received at Grace after a few hours of waiting.

Masters sent a letter to Manitoba's government, requesting a cancer care-specific emergency department, but has not received a response. She has since contacted Global News, expressing her frustration and highlighting the traumatic experience of another cancer patient, Colleen Titanich, who was left on a stretcher in the hallway of HSC for 20 hours. Theresa Chanowski, Colleen Titanich's daughter, also expressed her concern, stating that urgent action is needed to address the situation.

Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara acknowledged the challenges of fixing the system to address extended wait times, stating that it will take time. Dr. Shawn Young, the chief medical officer at HSC, expressed concern over the extended wait times for patients, noting that the health care system has been behind in building a primary care base and community resources.

He emphasized that the real solution to the challenge lies in building those primary care and community resources, which would help prevent the situation from getting worse in the future.

Ray Sanchez, vice-president of acute services at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, added that addressing wait times at the emergency department will require a multifaceted approach, involving various programs working simultaneously to improve. Both Young and Sanchez acknowledged that while there have been improvements in capacity and the flow of care in recent years, the demand for services continues to grow, making it challenging to keep up with the increasing need.