Two Ottawa hospitals have some of the longest wait times in Ontario to see a doctor in the emergency room this fall, and all Ottawa hospitals exceed the provincial average.
Statistics from Health Quality Ontario show the provincial average for a first assessment by a doctor in the emergency room was 2.1 hours in September, up from 2 hours in August.
The wait time for a first assessment by a doctor was 4.1 hours at CHEO in September and 4 hours at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital. Only the Windsor Regional Hospital’s Metropolitan Campus had a longer wait time for a first assessment in Ontario, at 4.4 hours.
The wait time at CHEO increased from 2.6 hours in July and 2.7 hours in August to 4.1 hours in September. The wait time remained at four hours at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital in August and September.
The average wait time for a first assessment in the ER in September was 3.2 hours at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus (2.8 hours in August), three hours at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus (2.7 hours in August), and 2.7 hours at the Montfort Hospital (2.7 hours in August)
Across eastern Ontario, the wait time for a first assessment by a doctor in the ER was 3.9 hours at the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital, 3.1 hours at the Brockville General Hospital and three hours at the Lennox and Addington County General Hospital.
The Kingston Health Sciences Centre – Hotel Dieu campus had the lowest wait time in eastern Ontario, at 1.5 hours in August.
Health Quality Ontario also reported on the average time “low-urgency patients” spent in the emergency room without being admitted to the hospital. The provincial average in September was 3.2 hours. Here is a look at the average time patients spent in an Ottawa hospital ER without being admitted:
- Ottawa Hospital Civic Hospital – 5.1 hours
- Queensway-Carleton Hospital – 5.3 hours
- Montfort Hospital – 5.4 hours
- CHEO – 5.8 hours
- Ottawa Hospital General Campus – 5.8 hours
Approximately 40 per cent of low-urgent patients finished their emergency room visit within the target time of four hours at the five Ottawa hospitals, according to Health Quality Ontario.