Wait times to see a doctor in eastern Ontario hospital ERs drop in November

Wait times to see a doctor in Ottawa and eastern Ontario emergency rooms dropped in November, but all hospitals remain above the provincial average, according to new data.

New statistics from Health Quality Ontario show CHEO and the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital have two of the three longest wait times for a first assessment by a doctor in Ontario.

Patients at the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital waited 4.1 hours to see a doctor in November, compared to 4.6 hours in October.

At the children's hospital in Ottawa, the average wait for a patient to see a doctor was 3.6 hours in November, down from 4.2 hours the month before. CHEO opened a second ICU, cancelled some non-urgent surgeries and redeployed staff in November as it dealt with an "unprecedented" demand due to a rise in influenza and respiratory cases.

The Ottawa Hospital's General Campus saw a drop in ER wait times to see a doctor in November, with patients waiting an average of 3.2 hours – compared to 3.8 hours in October.

Other Ottawa hospitals were closer to the provincial average of 2 hours to see a doctor: Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus at 2.1 hours, Montfort Hospital at 2.2 hours and the Queensway Carleton Hospital reported wait times of 2.4 hours.

The Renfrew Victoria Hospital reported a wait time of 1.2 hours for a first assessment by a doctor, while the wait time to see a doctor at the Kingston Health Sciences Centre – Hotel Dieu campus was 1.4 hours.

Across Ontario, patients waited an average of 22.4 hours in an emergency room in November waiting to be admitted to the hospital.

Ottawa hospitals fared better when it came to admitting patients. Here are the wait times for Ottawa hospitals: Montfort Hospital 13.7 hours, CHEO 16.3 hours, the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus 18.6 hours, Ottawa Hospital General Campus 21.5 hours and Queensway Carleton Hospital at 23.6 hours.

The Hawkesbury and District General Hospital reported wait times of 47 hours for patients to be admitted to the hospital.