Quebec hospital ERs at over 100 per cent capacity for 10 days straight

The Montreal Jewish Hospital is seen in Montreal, on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. The hospital's ER is one of two in Montreal that is running at over 200 per cent capacity. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Parents sending their children to school this week should be thankful that they are not sending them or anyone else in the family to one of Quebec's hospital emergency rooms.

The website Index Sante reported on Wednesday that ERs across the province are running at 111 per cent capacity, with Montreal at 136 per cent.

Quebec ERs have not been below 100 per cent capacity since Aug. 18, when they were at 98 per cent.

Two hospitals in Montreal and one in Lanaudiere have over 200 per cent capacity.

Montreal ERs bursting

LaSalle Hospital is the lone non-specialist hospital with an ER capacity of under 100 per cent at 73 per cent.

The MUHC Royal Victoria Hospital (224 per cent) and Jewish General Hospital (223 per cent) are at the other end of that spectrum.

At the Royal Vic, 11 patients have been waiting for over 48 hours on stretchers and 33 for a day. There is an average wait time of just under 12 hours to see a doctor and a 32-hour wait time on a stretcher.

Quebec's Health Ministry reports a stretcher occupancy rate of 221 per cent at the Royal Vic.

MUHC spokesperson Annie-Claire Fournier explained that hospitals in their network have considerably more emergency visits per year.

"We receive more than 78,000 annual visits for a capacity of 601 beds at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal General Hospital," said Fournier.

She explained that the hospital has more alternate level of care patients (ALC or NSA in French) who are waiting for a bed but do not require the intensity of services in that particular hospital.

"We have seen a significant increase in the number of NSA patients over the past few weeks, who no longer need hospital care," said Fournier. "Currently, 103 NSA patients occupy beds in our facilities. These patients wait up to 39 days in our beds before being allocated a place in a long-term care centre and contribute significantly to patients waiting in the ER to be admitted into a bed."

Forty patients at the Jewish have been on a stretcher waiting for a doctor for over a day and 15 for over two days. The stretcher occupancy rate at the Jewish is 221 per cent, with a four-hour wait time in the waiting room and a 16-hour wait time for a stretcher.

At the Jewish, the emergency department gets close to 300 visits per day or 100,000 per year.

"One of the main reasons for this high volume is that 60 per cent of our patients are from outside our territory," said spokesperson Carl Thériault. "Another contributing factor is the rising proportion of elderly patients, whose emergency care can often be relatively complex."

Thériault said the hospital's command centre has helped find the right place and right type of care for patients to alleviate pressure on the emergency department and that "virtual beds" have helped prevent patients from going to the department.

Thériault added that the hospital redirects about 20 per cent of patients who do not require urgent care to other resources.

The Montreal General Hospital (161 per cent), Lakeshore Hospital (158 per cent), and Verdun Hospital (150 per cent) are also very busy hospitals that patients may want to avoid.

Other Montreal hospitals' emergency room capacities:

• Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hosptial - 148 per cent
• Sacre-Coeur-de-Montreal Hospital - 146 per cent
• Fleury Hospital - 133 per cent
• Santa Cabrini Hospital - 121 per cent
• University de Montreal Hospital - 120 per cent
• Sainte Justine Hosptial - 119 per cent
• St. Mary Hospital - 118 per cent
• Albert-Prevost Hospital - 111 per cent
• Notre-Dame Hospital - 109 per cent

Fournier said the MUHC is working on several internal projects to reduce the average length of stay in facilities, improve fluidity and offer patients other options than the ER.

"It is important that patients are cared for in the most appropriate setting within the health-care system," she said. "We therefore ask the public to use the Primary Care Access Point (Guichet d’accès à la première ligne, GAP) and their family doctor for less urgent outpatient care." 

Other busy emergency rooms

Montreal is not the only region in the province with bursting ERs. 

All eight hospitals in the Monteregie are over 100 per cent capacity, with the Suroit Hospital (172) in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Anna Laberge Hospital (153 per cent) in Chateautuay, and Pierre Boucher Hospital (151 per cent) in Longueuil the busiest.

Launaudiere's two hospitals - Parphilia-Ferland Hospital (218 per cent) and Pierre-le Gardeur Hospital (172 per cent) per cent - are also well above capacity.

Saint-Jerome Hospital (174 per cent) and Cite-de-la-Sante Hospital in Laval (169 per cent) should also be avoided.