Hospital wait times in 90th percentile

Alycia Douglass
Hospital wait times in 90th percentile
Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH)

CORNWALL, Ontario – Having access to a regular medical doctor is something that most Canadians consider to be a basic need.

However, a 2014 survey revealed that roughly 4.5 million Canadians reported they did not have a regular medical doctor. In this survey, 21.5% claimed that doctors in their area were not taking in new patients, while another 20.2% reported that their doctor had retired or left the area.

While the Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH) has reported a slight drop in wait times since implementing Choosing Wisely Canada (CWC) standards, many patients are still waiting up to 12.8 hours in the Emergency Department.

“The hospital is funded to have 60 hours of ED physician coverage for each 24-hour period,” said a spokesperson for the CCH. “There is a maximum of six physicians on at one time, and a minimum of one.”

While the average time that doctors spend with patients is not typically monitored, the current wait times in the ED are in the 90th percentile.

“What this means is that nine out of 10 patients are waiting between 5.4 hours and 12.8 hours from registration to discharge or admission to inpatient bed,” said the spokesperson.

Cornwall wait times for minor conditions were pegged at roughly 1.1 hours longer than the provincial average, while complex critical conditions were about 2.5 hours longer.

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