A Quebec man has developed an app to track emergency department wait times, occupancy, and trends that he says is better than the government’s system. The government system shows hourly stretcher occupancy rate, the total number of people in the emergency department, the total number of people waiting to see a doctor, and the estimated wait time for non-priority cases. Han Kim, a 33-year-old software engineer in Quebec’s Laurentians, said he created an app, ER Wait Times Quebec Hospital, that does what the government’s system does and more. “The ministry publishes the current hour and overwrites it. Nothing on their site shows yesterday, last week, or last month,” Kim told CTV News. “My app keeps all of the data so that we have a history of any given hospital, and it will tell you, according to the history, which are the best and worst days and times to go to each hospital.” App reveals ER trends According to his tracking from Aug. 10 to Sept. 13, emergency departments in the province were busiest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and the busiest times of day were between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. The peak total number of people in the emergency department is at 2 p.m., while the peak number of people waiting to see a doctor is at 4 p.m. Tuesday records the highest average stretcher occupancy at 86.9 per cent and 35.6 patients in the emergency department, followed by Wednesday at 85.8 per cent and 35.2 patients. Saturday and Sunday were the least busy days, and the least busy hours were between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. Saturday averages 77.3 per cent stretcher occupancy and 11.6 patients waiting to see a doctor, and Sunday averages 77.3 per cent stretcher occupancy and 11.3 people waiting to see a doctor. The highest stretcher overcrowding rate is at Royal Victoria Hospital at 207.5 per cent, followed by the Jewish General Hospital at 192.2 per cent, and Lakeshore Hospital at 184.4 per cent. The longest wait times were at the Royal Victoria Hospital at 9.2 hours, followed by Gatineau Hospital at 8.9 hours and the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) at 8.5 hours. Kim said showing Quebecers each hospital’s trends over time can help them make better choices about where to go for less urgent reasons and alleviate pressure on hospitals that are consistently overcrowded. “Almost nobody plans an ER visit a week out, but the day of still contains a choice, and it’s a choice the (government’s) page can’t help with,” Kim said. Pressure on health-care system Santé Quebec said it recorded nearly 10,000 emergency department visits on both Aug. 25 and 26. The reasons for consultation included abdominal pain, minor complaints, difficulty breathing, and musculoskeletal pain. It emphasizes that Quebecers should only go to the emergency department when a situation requires prompt medical attention. “The most urgent cases, such as strokes, heart-related conditions, and breathing difficulties, are always prioritized,” a Santé Quebec media spokesperson told CTV News. For non-urgent needs, it advises the public to consult their family doctor, a pharmacist, or the 811 service, where Quebecers can either receive health-care advice over the phone or book an appointment using the Primary Care Access Point (GAP). However, according to Santé Quebec data as of Sept. 7, the wait time to speak with a nurse at Info-Santé is 100 minutes. The data also show that about 73 per cent of priority requests submitted through its GAP service are processed within 36 hours. It also said that stretcher occupancy rates do not solely reflect the number of people visiting emergency departments and are also influenced by patients’ hospitalization needs and the availability of beds in inpatient care units. According to Santé Quebec, patients presenting to emergency departments are often older and have more complex needs. “Because a greater number of them require additional consultations following their assessment, this places added pressure on the health-care system,” it said. Long ER wait times not due to funding Recent data from the Montreal Economic Institute showed that while health spending increased by $24.2 billion, reaching $66 billion from 2018 to this year, ER wait times increased by 41 minutes in the same period. The institute said long wait times weren’t due to funding but several other factors, including how the system is organized, how resources are used, and a lack of access to primary care, which forces Quebecers to use the emergency department for less-urgent needs. In Quebec, there are 10,872 family physicians active in the province, according to the College of Physicians of Quebec. However, that number represents a shortage of 2,000 family doctors to meet the population’s current needs, the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ), the group representing family doctors, told CTV News. “We are aware that, with a shortage of more than 2,000 family physicians in Quebec, access to clinic appointments does not always meet patients’ expectations,” it said. Kim is also working on adding wait times for non-urgent surgeries by hospital, as well as the best times to call 811 to make an appointment. Although he said his app is a “band-aid” solution to fixing the health-care system, he hopes he can help Quebecers navigate the network. “I just want as many people to know something like this exists, whether people use the government system or my app, I’m just trying to help people who need to go to the emergency department make the best decision,” he said.
