It was revealed that the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has increased its administrative bureaucracy by 34% in the last 2 years alone. During the 1999 election campaign, the NDP promised to reduce health care administrative costs, promising to take money out of the board rooms and into the emergency rooms.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s bureaucracy has expanded from 6 floors to 7 at 155 Carlton Street in Winnipeg. The administrative staff has grown from 244 in 2003 to 328 at the end of 2005, a 34% increase. How can the Province justify this administrative growth when we don’t have enough doctors to cover shifts in our emergency rooms?

Resources are being taken from direct patient care and being placed into administration. While the administrative bureaucracy is ballooning, doctor shortages throughout Manitoba’s emergency rooms continue to put patient safety at risk.

In addition, the salaries of the top eight administrative staff at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority total $1.6 Million. This money should not be spent on huge salaries, but it should be used to reduce wait times and to ensure patient safety.