'Waiting too long for care': Walk-in health clinic wait times in Alberta drop as ER waits continue surging
While a new study shows the average wait time for a walk-in health clinic in Alberta is the lowest across the country, emergency department wait times are soaring.
According to a national wait time index published by medimap, data from 1,200 walk-in clinics across Canada showed B.C. and Nova Scotia had the highest wait times, at 58 and 44 minutes, respectively.
The average wait time in Alberta is at 18 minutes, seven minutes below the national average, medimap says.
Sherwood Park ranked as the city with the shortest wait time in the country, with an average of four minutes. Meanwhile, Grande Prairie ranked as the third-longest nationally, with patients waiting an average of 45 minutes before receiving care.
Alberta's average wait time for walk-in clinics decreased by seven minutes from 2019 to 2021, medimap says.
When it comes to patients accessing the emergency room, Dr. Raj Sherman says it is a different story.
"I've been working for 30 years, and it's been very difficult recently," said the emergency physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton.
"People are waiting far too long for care," Sherman added. "We have a lot of sick people that show up for care at the major hospitals and they leave without ever being seen."
The percentage of people leaving emergency rooms or urgent care centres without treatment is increasing.
In 2020, the Edmonton health zone saw about 8.5 per cent of patients left without receiving care, Alberta Health Services data shows. The following year that lowered to approximately seven per cent. According to the year-to-date data for 2022, 10 per cent of patients are walking out of Edmonton's ERs without care.
"I am seeing, and many of my colleagues, we are seeing a lot of sick people presenting for care. They see a full waiting room with 30 to 40 people waiting," he said.
"And they either leave after seeing the full waiting room because they're told the wait is six to eight hours, or they wait for six to eight hours, and then they get frustrated, and they leave," he added.
Sherman insists it's not a matter of Albertans turning to ERs instead of walk-in clinics but that a deficit in healthcare from the 18 months of COVID-19 delays is causing even sicker patients.
"Because of the 18 months delays in care, people's diabetes is out of control. Their cancer is worse," Sherman said. "They have major medical problems."
"We have a lot of illness in the community, partly because of COVID and partly because of the delays of COVID," he added. "As well, we were already running the system at 98 to 99 per cent capacity before COVID ever hit."
When it comes to patients leaving without receiving emergency care, Sherman says many of those people return to hospital, but have to be rushed to care.
"These patients come back a heck of a lot sicker, and then we see them right away because their triage category is triage category 1 or 2," he said. "They're critically ill. But this is unsafe."
The doctor invited Alberta's premier and health minister to tour his hospital, an invite Jason Copping said he would consider.
"We are investing in more resources to address that," Copping said. "Our whole budget approached this with an additional $600 million this year."
The health minister added that money would go toward expanding health-care system capacity, including additional intensive care and continuing care beds to reduce ER backlogs. That money will also go toward hiring additional health-care staff, Copping said.
The Official Opposition calls it too little, too late.
"It's unfortunate we are here," said David Shepherd, NDP health critic. "It's repeated decisions by this government to push our healthcare system to the limits."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Girl, 15, set on fire in assault at Saskatoon high school: police
A 15-year-old girl was set on fire in an assault at Saskatoon's Evan Hardy Collegiate Thursday afternoon, police say.
Liberal national campaign director says he will step down
Embattled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his governing Liberals have taken another hit with Jeremy Broadhurst quitting his job as national campaign director for the party.
Father of Georgia school shooting suspect arrested on charges including second-degree murder
The father of the teenager accused of opening fire at a Georgia high school, killing four people and wounding nine, was arrested on various charges including second-degree murder, authorities said Thursday.
Toronto couple pushes for change after dog attacked by pack of coyotes
It started like any other night for Mary and Doug Youngson: a walk at their neighbourhood park with their rescue dogs, Mai Tai and Kahlua. But when the couple looked around, they say a pack of eight coyotes surrounded them, picked Kahlua up and ran off with him.
A Canadian airline is changing its check-in deadline for all flights. Here's why
Travellers will have to check in 15 minutes earlier than usual according to Air Canada's new cutoff time for all flights.
Man dies after surgeon removed wrong organ at Florida hospital, lawyer says
The lawyer of a woman whose husband died at a Florida hospital says the surgeon removed the wrong organ.
Conservative cuts? Party to share platform 'closer to the next election,' Scheer says
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer says Canadians will have to wait until 'closer' to the next federal election to learn about the party's platform.
Student convicted of killing classmate in Leduc gets life in prison without parole for 12 years
The man who fatally stabbed a classmate at his Leduc high school in 2021 was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 12 years on Thursday.
Murder, aggravated assault charges laid in Vancouver stranger attacks
Charges of murder and aggravated assault in a pair of brutal stranger attacks in downtown Vancouver were approved Thursday, one day after the rush-hour rampage left one man dead and another with a severed hand.