More than 4.7K health-care workers hired in Manitoba since 2023: province

Manitoba has gained a net 4,725 health-care workers since October 2023, according to the provincial government.

Among the new full-time and part-time workers were 370 physicians, 1,464 nurses, 2,152 health-care aides and 607 allied health professionals, the government said in a news release.

Fifty-nine new medical residents, 67 physician or clinical assistants and six midwives have also joined Manitoba’s health-care force.

These net figures subtract health-care employees who resigned, retired or transferred out, the province noted.

“So, you put that altogether, there are many more people working on the frontlines of our provincial health-care system,” Premier Wab Kinew told reporters at a news conference at Seven Oaks General Hospital Tuesday.

“We also know that there’s a lot that needs to be done. There are still many things to do when it comes to wait times in emergency rooms and urgent cares and surgeries and diagnostics, but we also know that anything that we want to do in those areas has to start with the staffing.”

The premier pointed to his party’s campaign platform on health care, saying that he sees the progress he promised voters, but a growing population means an increased demand — and strain — on its services.

“People are sicker today. And anyone on the frontlines, I’m sure, has seen this,” he said, adding that the province will continue working to hire new health-care staff and address shortages in the system.

Manitoba’s health minister said the staff hopping on board proves the province is attractive to health-care workers and that it is currently training a record number of them.

“We were a flyover province. I heard that from so many people when I would go to other jurisdictions,” the provincial Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-term Care Uzoma Asagwara told reporters.

“What I hear now from folks is that they are choosing Manitoba first. They’re making Manitoba home.”

Dr. Ayomikun Soyombo, an emergency medicine physician, arrived in Winnipeg from the United Kingdom Sunday. He said he has been waiting 16 years, since he was a medical student in Nigeria, for the opportunity to work in Manitoba.

“I packed my bags, my parents, my stepdad and my mom, they bought me a flight ticket, which was very expensive then. They got me a very warm jacket because I heard about the snow,” Soyombo said, recalling his original plan to work in the city while he finished his schooling.

Ultimately, the would-be doctor didn’t make it to Winnipeg in 2010, as his visa was denied.