Home care patients considered non-urgent can expect delays in service over the next few days.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) sent out a release this morning, saying a recent snow storm is making it challenging for them to get home care to people who need it.

Patients who are non-urgent have family members or friends who can look after them in the event of a break in service.

Patients considered urgent will be prioritized get the care they need regardless of weather, according to Gina Trinidad, Chief Health Operations Officer for Continuing Care and Community for the WRHA.

“We’re going to be actively monitoring the situation throughout the day and into the evening,” Trinidad said. “We do know some people are getting service despite road conditions, and we’re going to alter our plans based on the weather. We continue to prioritize clients that need urgent care.”

Trinidad says a silver lining in this situation is they were well aware of the storm before it hit, meaning they were able to contact non-urgent patients and their families to make sure they had their backup plans in place.

“Knowing the storm was going to hit Winnipeg was very key,” Trinidad said. “We did some preemptive communication to alert people to prepare for this.”

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has 15,000 home care clients and makes about 14,000 visits per month, according to Trinidad.

She says patients and their families should be prepared to deal with delays in service for at least the next few days as roads clear up.

The WRHA is asking patients and their families to monitor its Facebook and Twitter pages for further updates.