The median length of stay in the emergency room was 5 hours and 12 minutes last year in Quebec, according to a report by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) released Thursday. This represents a slight improvement of 11 minutes compared to the previous year.
“That’s still 11 minutes less than the typical patient has to spend in the ER before being able to go home. So, it’s a step in the right direction, but it’s still a very small step when compared to what it was before the pandemic,” said Renaud Brossard, vice president of communications at the MEI, in an interview.
Since 2018, the median wait time in emergency departments has increased by 41 minutes across the province. “Essentially, we’re taking a small step in the right direction after having taken several big steps in the wrong direction,” summarized Brossard.
The median length of stay in an emergency department is calculated from the patient’s arrival—when they are registered with their health insurance card—until they are discharged from the hospital or admitted to another unit. This means that half of the stays were longer, and the other half were shorter.
There are significant differences between regions in terms of wait times in emergency rooms.
The regions with the longest median emergency room stay times are Laval (7 hours and 49 minutes), the Laurentians (6 hours and 51 minutes), and Montérégie (6 hours and 32 minutes). Montreal ranks fourth with 6 hours and 12 minutes.
Conversely, the Gaspésie (3 hours and 22 minutes) and Bas-Saint-Laurent (3 hours and 23 minutes) regions have the shortest median stay times. Chaudière-Appalaches also performs well with a stay time of 3 hours and 52 minutes.
Brossard points out, however, that not all regions offer the same level of service. This is one of the limitations of the ranking.
Furthermore, the three hospitals where patients wait the longest before an initial evaluation by a doctor are Gatineau Hospital (4 hours and 40 minutes), Hull Hospital (4 hours and 24 minutes), and Pierre-Boucher Hospital (3 hours and 38 minutes).
These figures suggest that this is due to a shortage of staff. “We wait a very, very long time to see a doctor, but once we do see one, we’re treated quickly and can leave,” notes Brossard. “This suggests that there may be a lack of treatment capacity within the emergency room itself, rather than a lack of bed capacity afterward to transfer patients to the wards.”
In terms of median length of stay, the emergency department at the Albert-Prévost Pavilion in Montreal—which specializes in mental health—had the longest wait time in Quebec last year, at 14 hours and 23 minutes.
In second and third place, respectively, are the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal (9 hours and 45 minutes) and the Hull Hospital (9 hours and 12 minutes).
According to Brossard, there are no major surprises among the hospitals that perform best and those that struggle the most.
Some regions have also seen improvements. “There are certain regions where there has been significant variation. I’m thinking, for example, of the Estrie region, where the median wait time decreased by 31 minutes (compared to last year). The Montérégie region also saw a decrease of 23 minutes. These are notable decreases in several regions,” says Brossard.
He argues that access to primary care is a major obstacle to improving wait times.
“For many patients who don’t have a family doctor—or those who do but are outside regular office hours, or even those who can’t get an appointment with their family doctor—the emergency room becomes the only gateway into the healthcare system. As a result, we have many patients who shouldn’t be in the ER but who don’t really have any other options.”
He believes that if Quebec had more “immediate care centers,” which can handle minor emergencies, this would relieve the pressure on Quebec’s emergency rooms, allowing them to focus on more serious cases.
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–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
