Wait times in emergency rooms continue to rise: report

It appears people in Saskatchewan will continue to wait for emergency care at hospitals.

A report by the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) indicated wait times are on the rise across Canada.

Juliana Wu is the manager of decision support, CORR and trauma registries for CIHI. She said some of the more interesting numbers are found within the senior population.

“About 10 per cent of seniors who went to an (emergency department), who required admission to the hospital, would have to wait 35 hours,” Wu told the 980 CJME Morning Show Friday.

She said about a third of the seniors who went to the emergency room needed to be admitted.

“Many seniors might have come with more complex conditions and were more likely to require admission compared to the rest of the population.”

Wu said the situation appeared to be worsening overall, with a nine per cent increase in wait times for the general population and 17 per cent for seniors.

It’s not lengthy wait times for all, with about 90 per cent of the population getting in within 10.1 hours.

Wu said people who work in a hospital setting aren’t surprised by the increase in wait times because they notice the capacity issue within hospitals.