Ottawa hospital ERs exceed provincial average for wait times to see a doctor

The Emergency Department entrance at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus in Ottawa is shown on Monday, May 16, 2022. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)

All five Ottawa hospital emergency departments exceed the provincial average for wait times for a first assessment by a doctor over the summer.

Statistics from Health Quality Ontario show the average wait time for a first assessment by a doctor in the emergency room in July was two hours.

The Queensway-Carleton Hospital had the longest wait time for a first assessment by a doctor in the ER in Ottawa, at 3.5 hours in July.

The average wait time to see the doctor was 3.3 hours at the Ottawa Hospital General Campus, 2.7 hours at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus ER, and 2.6 hours at both CHEO and the Montfort Hospital.

The wait time for a first assessment by a doctor at CHEO dropped from 3.6 hours in May to 2.6 hours in July, while the average wait time at the Civic Campus dropped from 3.5 hours in May to 2.7 hours over the summer.

The Windsor Regional Hospital’s Metropolitan Campus had the longest wait for a first assessment by an ER doctor in Ontario at 4.6 hours, followed by 4.1 hours at the Quinte Health – Belleville campus.

According to Health Quality Ontario, the average wait for a first assessment by a doctor in the ER in July was 3.3 hours at the Pembroke Regional Hospital and three hours at the Kingston General Hospital.

Time in the hospital

Ottawa hospitals also continue to exceed the provincial average for the average length of stay in the ER for low-urgent patients not admitted to hospital, with the Montfort Hospital having the longest time spent in the ER in Ontario.

The average length of stay for low-urgency patients not admitted to hospital across Ontario was 3.2 hours in July. The target time is four hours.

Here is a look at the average length of time low-urgency patients spent in Ottawa hospital ERs in July:

• Montfort Hospital: 6.3 hours
• Ottawa Hospital General Campus: 5.2 hours
• Queensway-Carleton Hospital: 5.1 hours
• Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus: 4.7 hours
• CHEO: 4.2 hours

The Kingston General Hospital also reported an average length of stay in the ER for low-urgency patients of six hours.