Winnipeg family doctor accused of losing, mismanaging medical files in 'pig pen' clinic
'I'm hoping that those who are listening will realize … it needs to be cleaned up': former employee
A Winnipeg family physician is accused of mishandling, losing or delaying the transfer of medical files, sometimes resulting in delayed access to medical care — and in one case, leaving a patient on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical bills at a U.S. hospital because the insurance company didn't receive the necessary documents.
"I felt like dying," former patient Helena Friesen said in an interview. "I sat and cried. I called my daughter. I said, 'What am I going to do? I don't have that kind of money sitting here.'"
Friesen is one of several people who told CBC about their experiences with Dr. Christina Winogrodzka, a general practitioner with Birchwood Medical Clinic in Winnipeg.
In multiple interviews, current patients, former patients and former staff members described experiences with Winogrodzka that suggested recurring themes: lost or missing medical files, patient referrals that weren't sent, prescriptions that never made it to pharmacists and an office filing system in disarray.
Both Friesen and Christine Edwards, a former staff member of Winogrodzka's, told CBC that they have complained to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, the self-regulatory body for doctors in the province.
This is Friesen's second effort to do so. Years ago, the first time she tried to express her concerns about Winogrodzka, she said that the college told her that finding a new general practitioner would be a challenge. She withdrew her complaint.
The college confirmed to CBC that it is now "engaged" with the clinic and vowed to better handle patient complaints.
Edwards worked for Winogrodzka as an office manager for six years. In April 2025, her employment was terminated.
She first spoke to CBC in late 2024, because, she said, "it's been a continual breaking point for many years."
Patients were regularly "getting upset — people were coming to the desk and complaining and yelling and crying because their things were not done, and they're worried about their health," said Edwards.
"I'm hoping that those who are listening will realize … it needs to be cleaned up."
Oncology referral not filed for a year
Edwards recalled one of the first times she had to search for a missing file. A patient contacted the office and asked Edwards to find out what had happened to her referral to an oncologist.
"I was looking for this file, and I found it on the left-hand side of the doctor's desk, almost at the bottom, and the stack of charts was probably 20 deep," Edwards said.
"I showed it to the doctor, and I said that this lady was on the phone and she was waiting and wondering about her referral to an oncologist. And the last time that she had been there was a year prior."
Once Edwards found the file, the referral was sent in.
"And so I had to go back to this patient and tell her that it hadn't been done yet, but [Winogrodzka] was going to do it today. I felt so badly. My heart just broke for her."
In cases like Helena Friesen's, the delayed transfer of her medical files meant financial, as well as emotional, distress.
"It's rough," Friesen said simply, crying.
In February 2023, while Friesen and her husband were in Florida, both contracted COVID-19 and ended up in a hospital. Helena Friesen was discharged after a few hours and later recovered.
Her husband was eventually medically evacuated back to Canada. He later died.
Initially, they believed their travel insurance would cover the medical bill. Later, their travel insurance company — TuGo — requested their medical documents, to verify that neither had a pre-existing condition that would have contributed to their illness, Friesen said.
By February 2024 — a year later — despite multiple phone call requests, in-person visits and emails from both Friesen and the insurance company, Winogrodzka had still not sent Helena's medical documents.
That's when the insurance company cancelled her policy.
A letter from the company, shared with CBC, said it was "unable to provide payment for your medical expenses incurred … since despite our numerous requests, Dr. Winogrodzka has not provided the required medical health questionnaire (MHQ) to confirm your medical history."
Friesen now owed more than $6,000 US in medical bills for her three-hour hospital stay. The hospital forgave the debt for her husband's care after he died, she said.
She hoped the insurance company would reverse the decision to cancel her policy, and begged Winogrodzka to send the documents, she said.
"Every appointment, I mentioned, 'Have you sent my records and medical records?… Because they want money from me,'" said Friesen.
Her daughter accompanied her to an appointment, and also emphasized how important it was to send the documents and how much money was owing, Friesen said, but to no avail.
CBC asked Winogrodzka for an interview, but she declined.
Disability forms not filed: patient
Linda Gies, also a patient of Winogrodzka's, lives with both cancer and multiple sclerosis.
Gies, who said her income last year was just $17,000, was at risk of losing her disability status, because Winogrodzka delayed filling out the forms required by the federal government, she said.
"There's a disability credit — and I know it doesn't mean much to some people, but that bonus helps for bills," Gies said. "Groceries, food on the table for my family, things like that. It makes a big difference, right?"
Gies received the disability credit until this tax season, when she was required to resubmit the paperwork confirming her medical condition.
She said at first, when she asked Winogrodzka to help fill out the required forms, the physician denied Gies was ever on disability.
"She says, 'Well, who put you on disability?'" said Gies. "I said, 'What do you mean who put me on disability? You did.' She was, 'No, I didn't.'"
Gies said she recommended Winogrodzka check her files, but the doctor still denied she had put her on disability.
Eventually, Gies was able to make an appointment to see Winogrodzka in person, so they could fill out the disability form together. But when she arrived at the clinic for her appointment, Winogrodzka wasn't there, Gies said. She waited for hours and returned home.
Weeks later, she threatened to report Winogrodzka to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, said Gies.
Soon after, Winogrodzka filled out the forms and submitted them, she said.
In total, CBC spoke to 11 former and current patients and staff members. They described different versions of the same themes, including delays in accessing medical records needed for either disability benefits or medical referrals, and delays in accessing medical results because, they allege, they were lost.
They described unsanitary conditions. Two described rust on a medical tool and a blood stain on an exam bed.
There are also allegations of lost prescriptions. In April, Edwards, the former employee, got a call from Winogrodzka, who was about to leave the country on vacation. Winogrodzka had forgotten, Edwards said, to sign off on multiple prescriptions on behalf of her patients to the pharmacist.
It was left to Edwards to determine which patient was waiting for which prescription. Adding to the challenge, the prescriptions were not at the clinic itself — they were at Winogrodzka's home.
Unsanitary office: patients, former staff
Former staff and patients also describe a cluttered, unsanitary and disorganized office space, with one former employee calling it a "pig pen."
Photographs supplied to CBC showed exam and storage rooms that were filled with stacks of patient files, piled on top of each other. Some were piled on the floor. Others were piled on a desk, next to a sink, a coffee mug and more drug samples.
"Files were constantly misplaced. I was always looking for files. Patients called and they needed results, and I couldn't find a chart," said a former employee, whom CBC has agreed not to name, because she feared it could affect her employment.
"The patients were calling and they were getting mad at us girls, and it wasn't us. It was Dr. Winogrodzka."
In other photos, drug samples appeared to be stored in drawers and piled on top of each other. Many were out of date, according to two former staff members.
"She had some stuff sitting on her shelf that was years outdated that she was still handing out to the patients," said the former employee.
Another photo showed a specimen container with a specimen in it, sitting on the desk. Medical tools were also visible, soaking in the sink.
"Sometimes [the biopsies] were left sitting in the exam rooms," Edwards said.
"We would be showing patients in, and the chart and the samples of whatever it was that was removed from the patient … were sitting there for all to see."
Lindsay Sarrasin worked for Winogrodzka as an office administrator from 2006 to 2008. She too described the exam rooms as cluttered and disorganized.
"There were times [patients] were calling me back one or two weeks later, saying, 'I still haven't got my referral,'" Sarrasin said. "She had so many files in her office that she didn't even know what she was working on."
She also said the rooms were messy and dirty.
"As a female, I would not want to have a physical done in that office, only because when I go into a doctor's office, I want clean," Sarrasin said.
Patients said that they were reluctant to file a complaint against Winogrodzka because medically, they're vulnerable — they fear it won't be easy to find another physician willing to take them on.
"It's not as easy as that," said Gies. "Like, if you go to the grocery store and you don't like what they have there, you go to a different store. You can't do that with doctors."
Former patient Friesen said after dropping her first complaint, she reached out to the College of Physicians and Surgeons again in June of this year. This time, she sent the regulator a detailed email, listing her concerns regarding Winogrodzka.
Edwards said she also reported her concerns to the college the same month.
CBC reached out to the college for comment about the concerns regarding Winogrodzka in June.
Five days later, sources told CBC that files, boxes and medical records were removed from Winogrodzka's Birchwood clinic premises.
After the initial request for comment about the patient and staff concerns, CBC asked the College of Physicians and Surgeons for comment about the record removals. Dr. Guillaume Poliquin, the college's assistant registrar of complaints and investigations, provided a written response.
"We are aware of the concerns regarding Birchwood Medical Clinic. The clinic has been engaged in our processes and for that reason we cannot provide further details at this time," he said.
In regard to Friesen's concerns about her attempts to previously file a complaint, Poliquin said that in July, the college "will be implementing changes that will enhance our process for reviewing concerns and complaints submitted about the care or conduct of physicians."
"Media is a valuable partner for us; awareness about high-profile cases allows others who may have similar concerns to come forward," he wrote.
CBC left multiple text, phone and email requests to Winogrodzka to comment on the allegations. When reached by phone, she said she's been working for 35 years at the same place and did not want to comment.
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