Ottawa hospitals exceed Ontario average for ER wait times, data shows

The main entrance of Ottawa's Queensway Carleton Hospital in seen in this undated photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

Two Ottawa hospitals have some of the longest wait times for a first assessment by a doctor in the emergency room, and all five hospitals in the capital exceed the provincial average for ER wait times.

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

The Queensway-Carleton Hospital had the longest average wait for a first assessment in Ottawa, with patients waiting an average of 4.2 hours in February. That’s up from 3.7 hours in December.

The average wait for a first assessment by a doctor was 3.6 hours in the ER at CHEO in February.

Patients waited an average of 3.4 hours for a first assessment by a doctor in the emergency room at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus and 2.3 hours at the Ottawa Hospital General Campus. At the Montfort Hospital, the average wait time was 2.6 hours in February.

The Windsor Regional Hospital Metropolitan Campus had the longest average wait for a first assessment by a doctor in Ontario, at 4.9 hours in February.

In eastern Ontario, the average wait times were 4.2 hours at the Bellville Hospital, four hours at the Brockville General Hospital and 3.9 hours at the Winchester District Memorial Hospital.

All Ottawa hospitals also exceeded the provincial target for the average length of stay in the ER for low-urgent patients not admitted to hospital. The average stay in the ER across Ontario was 3.5 hours in February.

In Ottawa, the average length of stay in the ER for low-urgent patients not admitted to hospital was 7.2 hours at the General Campus of the Ottawa Hospital, 5.6 hours at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital, 6.2 hours at Montfort Hospital, 5.4 hours at the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital and 5.1 hours at CHEO.

The Ottawa Hospital General Campus has the longest average stay in the ER for low-urgent patients not admitted to hospital in Ontario.

Low-urgent patients spent an average of 6.8 hours at the Kingston General Hospital and 6.6 hours at the Brockville General Hospital.