A woman from Winnipeg waited almost 26 hours in a hospital emergency room in 2025. She says she is disappointed that wait times have not improved.

Beverley Masters is 73 years old. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996. She had treatments like chemotherapy and radiation. They worked for some years, but then the cancer came back.

After a cancer ward closed, Masters started going to a different hospital in Winnipeg.

In 2025, Masters began taking new medicine. She ended up in the emergency room a few weeks later.

Masters said the hospital would not let her go to urgent care. They told her to go to the emergency room by ambulance. That's when things got worse.

Masters waited almost 26 hours to see a doctor.

Masters said she was not in the emergency room for the first 14 hours. She was in a hallway on a stretcher.

Other people on stretchers joined her in the hallway. There was no place to put their things or use the bathroom.

Masters finally got medical care. She had an ultrasound and got blood thinners.

Masters said all she needed was an ultrasound. It could have been easy to solve.

Masters wrote a letter to the government asking for a special emergency room for cancer patients. She never got a response.

Masters said some people would rather die at home than go back to the emergency room.

Masters contacted us after seeing a story about a similar problem.

We talked to a woman whose mom was left on a stretcher in the hallway for 20 hours.

The woman said something should have been done to prevent this.

When she saw the story, she thought it was unfair that her mom suffered when the government knew about the problem.

It's like nobody is listening. We don't know what it will take to make a change.

The health minister said fixing the system will take time.

A doctor at the hospital said the stories about long wait times are terrible.

The doctor said they are working to open more beds at the hospital.

The goal of healthcare is to keep people healthy. The focus is on preventative care.

The doctor said they were behind in providing primary care. This led to more advanced diseases.

Building a strong primary care system is the plan. It won't fix the problem today, but it will help tomorrow.

Improving home care and long-term care will help free up hospital beds.

A hospital official said it will take many programs to reduce wait times.

The official said they need to do many things at once to improve.

Both men said the healthcare system has improved, but the demand is still growing.

It's hard to keep up with the demand.

Get the facts about what's happening.

Add us to your Google news to see more stories.

Get the latest health news in your email every Sunday.

Stay up to date with the latest health news every Sunday.