“No one—especially someone who is experiencing significant pain or illness—should have to wait for hours on a gurney in a busy hallway because our hospitals are operating beyond capacity.” – Grand Chief Jerry Daniels
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 8, 2026
ANISHINAABE AND DAKOTA TERRITORY, MB — The Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) is calling on the Province of Manitoba to take meaningful, urgent action to address the pressures facing Manitoba’s hospitals and emergency departments where overcrowding, lengthy waits, and limited capacity continue to impact patient care.
Despite provincial announcements highlighting investments to recruit physicians and strengthen the health care workforce, many Manitobans continue to spend hours waiting for treatment or remaining on gurneys until a treatment space or inpatient bed becomes available. For First Nations citizens, who often travel considerable distances to access emergency services, these delays are creating significant hardships and barriers to care.
“The Southern Chiefs’ Organization appreciates any investments in strengthening Manitoba’s health care system, however, First Nations citizens continue to wonder when they will see meaningful improvements to ensure all patients are feeling safe and cared for,” said SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels. “No one—especially someone who is experiencing significant pain or illness—should have to wait for hours on a gurney in a busy hallway because our hospitals are operating beyond capacity.”
SCO is raising concerns following the recent experience of Chief Clinton Keeper of Little Grand Rapids First Nation. After developing complications from a kidney stone that obstructed his urinary tract, Chief Keeper sought emergency medical care. Although he was initially assessed and discharged, his condition worsened and he returned to the Grace Hospital by ambulance.
Chief Keeper spent approximately 13 hours waiting for care on a gurney in a hallway while experiencing severe pain. During that time, he says he and another First Nations man who was waiting nearby were both offered only regular-strength Tylenol for pain. Chief Keeper also observed other patients receiving stronger pain medication, leaving him questioning whether he and the other First Nations patient were receiving the same level of care as others.
Chief Keeper repeatedly requested assistance after his urinary drainage device leaked onto his bedding but did not receive help until family members arrived 13 hours later. While waiting, he witnessed the other First Nations patient, who was in severe pain, being told he would lose an available room if he could not walk to it on his own.
“My experience made me think about all the other First Nations citizens who come through our hospitals every day. While waiting for care, I witnessed other citizens trying to access care and I was concerned about what I saw,” said Chief Keeper. “It felt like we weren’t treated with the same compassion or urgency as others around us. At times, it felt like people didn’t even want to touch us, like we were dirty. No one seeking medical care should ever be made to feel that way. Our First Nations citizens deserve to be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect. We cannot accept a health care system where patients spend hours waiting on gurneys in hallways. It’s time for meaningful action to improve access to care for First Nations people.”
First Nations leaders continue to hear from citizens who describe extended waits for emergency care, spending hours on gurneys, and navigating hospitals under significant strain. These experiences can be especially difficult for citizens who must leave their Nations and travel long distances to receive medical treatment. The situation becomes even more complex when patients use English as a second language or require additional mobility supports.
Recent data reinforces these concerns. A Shared Health report (2025) found that Indigenous people had the highest rate of emergency department visits in Manitoba, with about 2600 visits per 10,000 people between May 2023 and September 2024. Meanwhile, Indigenous patients experienced some of the longest emergency department wait times, despite having triage scores similar to non-Indigenous patients.
In addition, Indigenous patients were nearly twice as likely to leave the emergency department without being seen by a health care provider. Nearly 17 per cent of Indigenous people left before receiving care, compared to 8.6 per cent of white patients. Many of those people who left without being seen required urgent or emergent care, underscoring that these are not simply low-acuity cases.
SCO recognizes the extraordinary dedication of Manitoba’s physicians, nurses, paramedics, and all frontline health care workers who continue to provide care under increasingly challenging conditions.
Addressing concerns requires long-term investments that improve hospital capacity, strengthen patient flow, and ensure better access to timely care.
“No patient should spend hours waiting on a gurney in a hallway because there is nowhere else for them to receive care,” said Grand Chief Daniels. “We know frontline health care workers are doing everything they can under incredibly difficult circumstances, but this has become a symptom of a health care system under immense pressure. When First Nations patients are experiencing some of the longest wait times and are leaving emergency departments without receiving care, more must be done. Hallway medicine should never become the standard of care in Manitoba. Our citizens deserve a health care system where timely, safe, and respectful treatment is the expectation—not the exception.”
SCO is calling on the Province of Manitoba to continue working with First Nations leadership to identify practical, long-term solutions that improve hospital capacity, reduce emergency department overcrowding, shorten wait times, and ensure culturally safe, equitable health care for First Nations citizens and all Manitobans.
First Nations Patient Navigators should also be made available in each Manitoba hospital. It’s important that someone is available to advocate for patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is especially essential in cases where patients use English as a second language.
SCO is working toward developing dedicated First Nations Health Advocates for citizens who must travel to urban centres for medical care. These advocates would stand alongside patients, help them navigate hospitals, overcome language and mobility barriers, communicate with health care providers, and ensure they are treated with dignity and respect throughout their care.
SCO has a mandate to carry out Health Transformation and establish culturally responsive and enhanced health care services for our member Nations. The decolonized health care system created by SCO will empower our citizens to access care that is right for them and closer to home. SCO is working closely with the provincial and federal governments to transform and improve health for the more than 92,000 Anishinaabe and Dakota citizens we represent.
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The Southern Chiefs’ Organization represents 33 First Nations and more than 92,000 citizens in what is now called southern Manitoba. SCO is an independent political organization that protects, preserves, promotes, and enhances First Nations peoples’ inherent rights, languages, customs, and traditions through the application and implementation of the spirit and intent of the Treaty-making process.
For media inquiries:
Email: Media@scoinc.mb.ca