ER wait times in Canada a symptom of health care 'crisis' says doc
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Orsign-inif you have an account. The Emergency Room at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Postmedia filesSee more Toronto Sun on Google —save as a Preferred SourceSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsA new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information found that one-tenth of emergency department (ED) patients — about 1. 5 million people — spent more than 14 hours in the emergency room in 2024-25. The CIHI study shows patients requiring hospital admission faced the longest waits with one in 10 admitted patients, which equates to around 180,000 people, spending more than 48 hours waiting. The report says the ED is often where symptoms of a strained system become visible as wait times are driven by both patient complexity and a system struggling under demand. In 2024–2025, half ofED patientsin Canada waited just under two hours to be assessed by an ED physician, while 1 in 10 patients waited more than six hours. And if a patient can’t be moved elsewhere, the ED becomes the buffer and is forced to absorb the overflow. In 2024-25, about 66% of ED visits were by patients requiring immediate or urgent medical attention, which represents an increase of seven percentage points since 2018-19, or about 1. 7 million additional visits. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againMeanwhile, nearly one-third of visits involved patients with multiple medical conditions, requiring more complex assessments, testing and care co-ordination. RECOMMENDED VIDEOMost admitted patients discharged within four daysThe data shows that while most patients admitted to acute care through emergency departments were discharged within an average of four days, about 114,000 patients remained in hospital much longer because they required additional support. Among those waiting for placement inlong-term care, half waited up to 44 days in hospital. Dr. Paul Parks — an emergency medicine physician in Medicine Hat, Alberta — says what is happening in EDs across Canada is a national crisis of the health system. “We’ve optimized everything,” Parks said in a statement. “We’ve taken all the elasticity out of the system, but the tap is still flowing. There’s a crisis: insufficient connected community resources, and little continuing care and long-term care. ”Medical wait times fell slightly in 2025, but remain at historic highsMACKAY: Invest in home care staff to cut ER wait times and increase surgical capacityGOLDSTEIN: Medical wait times cost Canadians $4. 2B in 2025, report saysSometimes hospital beds are not available because of patients waiting to access other services such as LTC or home care. These patients, designated as alternate level of care, are medically ready to be discharged but can remain in the hospital a median of 44 days. In Canada, adults age 55 and older are among the most frequent ED patients. In 2024–2025, nearly one-third of ED visits involved patients with multiple comorbidities, meaning they required more complex assessment, testing and care coordination. While some of this stems from an aging population, it also reflects gaps in access to primary and community care. People living in the lowest-income neighbourhoods, who account for nearly half of all ED visits, often face greater barriers to accessing community care and often rely on the ED to fill the gap. Join the ConversationCelebritySoccerWorldCanadaWorldThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more aboutcookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to ourTerms of UseandPrivacy Policy.