Quebecers spending more time waiting in emergency rooms than ever before: study

ER wait times on the rise in Quebec: study A new study reveals how long Quebecers are waiting for urgent care and which hospital has the longest wait times.

Quebecers are waiting 40 more minutes than they were five years ago at emergency rooms across the province, according to a new study released by the Montreal Economic Institute.

"This has been a steady climb. It's been happening even before the pandemic, and it's just getting worse and worse and worse every year," said Renaud Brossard, communications director at the Montreal Economic Institute.

Patients seeking immediate medical attention will likely wait an average of five hours and 11 minutes.

The longest median wait time is in Chateaugauy at Anna Laberge Hospital. According to the institute, patients spent an average of 10 hours and 27 minutes in the ER in 2022.

Brossard says the hardest hit regions are in Lanaudiere, the Laurentians and Laval.

"We need to realize that the current approach has failed. It has reached its limits and we need to start trying new ways to deliver health care," he told CTV News.