Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Reports of high average wait times at hospital emergency rooms across the country were punctuated by CTV News medical correspondent Avis Favaro's latest story focusing on the dire consequences long wait times at crowded ERs can have on patients.
In light of studies showing patients admitted to ERs are waiting longer to get into an acute care bed, CTVNews.ca has collected wait time data over a recent time period from a selection of hospitals in cities across Canada, to give you a snapshot of the wait times Canadians are dealing with.
Note: certain provinces that are not currently providing wait time data for their hospital ERs are not included.
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The province has live data updated every five minutes for many of its hospitals. Its website lists estimated wait times and expected lengths of stay.
Below is a sample of wait times recorded over the past week at a selection of hospitals.
Alberta has data updated every two minutes for emergency rooms and urgent care in Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer.
Below is a sample of recent emergency wait times.
Saskatchewan has a website for live emergency department wait times updated every 15 minutes, though the service has been temporarily unavailable.
Live emergency department wait times are available for four hospitals in Winnipeg.
Ontario offers past monthly data of average wait times at more than 100 hospitals. The chart below depicts daily average times in the waiting room for the whole province and select hospitals for the month of June 2023.
Quebec has data for 115 facilities that includes the current estimated waiting time for non-priority cases to see a doctor and the number of people waiting to see a doctor in the emergency room.
The chart below depicts daily average times in the waiting room for the whole province and select hospitals.
New Brunswick has a website for emergency department wait times, though the system is currently not operating. The site has the following message:
“The estimated Emergency Department (ED) wait times for Horizon’s hospitals are currently unavailable to allow us to complete maintenance to make the estimated wait time information as accurate as possible. We hope to share the estimated ED wait times again by late summer.”
Nova Scotia offers live wait times and wait time forecasts for 10 hospitals. Estimates are given in the form of a range of hours (e.g. 3:00 - 4:45). Markers on the chart below are the center of each range recorded.
Prince Edward Island has estimated wait times for four emergency departments, with varying estimates depending on level of urgency. Links to each hospital can be found here.
Newfoundland and Labrador has data on surgery wait times, but no information on emergency department wait times is available.
Wait times in Nunavut are not available, but the following map shows contact information for health facilities across the territory.
Wait times at emergency rooms in the Northwest Territories are not available, but the following link contains contact information for health facilities across N.W.T.
Wait times at emergency rooms at Yukon hospitals are not available, but the following link contains contact information for emergency services in Whitehorse, Dawson City and Watson Lake.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
Health Minister Mark Holland says while he is 'deeply appreciative' of the work doctors in Canada do, the federal government has no plans to scrap the proposed capital gains tax changes outlined in the latest budget, despite opposition from the Canadian Medical Association.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Quebec will invest $603 million over five years to counter the decline of French in the province, French Language Minister Jean-Francois Roberge announced Sunday.
A senior Qatari official has urged Israel and Hamas to show "more commitment and more seriousness" in ceasefire negotiations in interviews with Israeli media, as pressure builds to reach a deal that would free some Israeli hostages and bring a ceasefire in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war woke up in tents at college campuses across the United States Sunday morning planning more protests demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies accused of enabling the conflict.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”