A long-promised hospital in Portage la Prairie will not open this November as planned.

A memo issued to staff in the Southern Health region says the new Portage Regional Health Centre will instead open next spring, to allow time for staff training and equipment implementation.

The new hospital was promised by the former Progressive Conservative government in 2021 and construction of the building was completed earlier this year.

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It will replace an existing hospital, be about double the size and offer more acute care beds.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara blames the former Tory government, saying it hadn’t supported health officials to build capacity.

The Tory legislature member for the area, Jeff Bereza, says the building is ready, there are plenty of people willing to work and a lack of government planning is to blame.

“The training had started … the scheduling has already started in the new hospital, and now that’s all for naught,” Bereza said Thursday.

Newly hired staff expecting work in November may not be around in the spring, he added.

Asagwara said a new hospital with upgraded technology required more planning than what the last government offered.

“Their priority was cutting health care,” the minister said.