The number of people leaving the emergency department across the country has been on the rise in recent years.
About a half a million Canadians left emergency departments before being seen by a doctor in 2024, according to a data analysis by CBC’s Marketplace.
Because B.C. and Quebec report these figures based on the fiscal calendar (and include parts of 2025), that number is likely a lot higher.
Took my partner to emerg last winter at 5am when she was so ill I was frightened.
The screen in the ER said an estimated 10 hour 15 minute wait time before seeing a physician or nurse practitioner.
She lasted two hours waiting there before begging me to take her back home. No doctor or medical staff saw her, we went home with nothing. All this to say I am unsurprised others are experiencing the same, it’s awful right now.