Patients spent 17 hours on stretchers waiting as ER occupancy rates remains high in Montreal

Emergency rooms across the Greater Montreal region continues to see high wait times of nearly five-and-a-half hours on average. ER patients on stretchers spent over 17 hours, on average Monday, with over 260 patients waiting for more than 24 hours and 129 spending more than 48 hours. Just before 9 a.m., two hospitals in Montreal [...] The post Patients spent 17 hours on stretchers waiting as ER occupancy rates remains high in Montreal appeared first on CityNews Montreal .

Emergency rooms across the Greater Montreal region continues to see high wait times of nearly five-and-a-half hours on average. ER patients on stretchers spent over 17 hours, on average Monday, with over 260 patients waiting for more than 24 hours and 129 spending more than 48 hours. Just before 9 a.m., two hospitals in Montreal had an occupancy rate of more than double their capacity: the Royal Vic was at 212 per cent, followed by the Lakeshore Hospital on the West Island with 200 per cent.

Other major hospitals in the city were also over-extended with occupancy rates at the Jewish General at 177 per cent, the Montreal General at 165 per cent and the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital at 141 per cent. Related: Lakeshore General ER tops Quebec for ER wait times Quebec is the worst province for emergency room wait times: study Authorities said the wait times could not be attributed to the recent episodes of heat waves in the region. “Right now, our teams are handling a large number of urgent and very urgent cases (P1-P2), particularly among elderly patients who require observation or hospitalization,” said Thaïs Dubé, a spokesperson for Santé Québec Est-de-l’île-de-Montréal Universitaire.

“These cases require more time and resources, which explains the increase in occupancy rates and longer wait times for other patients—rather than a direct link to the heat.” A similar trend was also observed in other hospitals in the region. In Laval, Hôpital de la cité-de-la-santé saw an occupancy rate of 173 per cent.

In Montéregie, Anna-Laberge Hospital in Châteauguay was at 153 per cent, with an average of wait time of eight hours and 40 minutes . Pierre-Boucher Hospital in Longueuil was at 102 per cent and an almost six-hour wait time. Across Quebec, patients spent an average of four hours and 51 minutes in waiting rooms and 14 hours and 49 minutes on a stretcher.

The occupancy rate in province was 111 per cent. The post Patients spent 17 hours on stretchers waiting as ER occupancy rates remains high in Montreal appeared first on CityNews Montreal .