Years in the making, a new ER has opened at St. Boniface Hospital. St. Boniface continues to experience long wait times, reflecting factors outside of the ER like a lack of flow through to inpatient beds, but the new space is over 86,000 square feet, triple the size of the old space. 

New and Improved

The $141 million project brings several improvements: 

• An expanded, central resuscitation area 
• A dedicated diagnostic imaging suite, with a new CT scanner and x‑ray machine 
• Private exam rooms in treatment areas 
• A dedicated mental health treatment area 
• An expanded waiting room and triage area 
• A dedicated ambulance entrance and parking bay for 10 ambulances

“I’m excited that patients will be more comfortable and hopefully less scared when they come in on what is often one of the most difficult days of their lives,” said Dr. Zoe Piggott, Medical Site Director of the St. Boniface Hosptial Emergency Department. ​“We have all kinds of difficult, private and complicated conversations with people all of the time, and it’ll be really nice to do that in a space where we can just focus on each other, the relationship and the care, rather than worrying about bumping into someone else across the curtain or the noise coming in from outside, or what time it is, or whether there’s a safe place to review those things.”

Renovations Continue at St. B

The existing ER space is now under renovation, and will add another 18,600 square feet once complete in 2026. The new emergency department should be able to handle 55,000 visits per year once complete and fully staffed, compared to the 39,000 seen in 2023/24.

While it’s unclear if additional staffing is being funded at this time, anticipation of the new space appears to have helped with recruitment and retention. From August 2024 to August 2025, the WRHA reports that the vacancy rate for ED nurses at St. Boniface Hospitaldeclined from 24.3% to 7.3%. The WRHA also reported the department has 40 emergency physicians, up from 33 in 2024, bringing shifted hours up from 87 per day to 100. 

ER Wait Times

Wait times have been in the news lately. Doctors Manitoba President Dr. Nichelle Desilets spoke with CBC about how long ER wait times serve as a signal the health care system isn’t currently equipped to meet patient needs as it should. She noted that sustained investment and continued efforts to recruit and retain physicians will be key to reversing the physician shortage, which lies at the root of health system concerns. Read the full story.