Child waits in CHEO ER 32 hours for a bed during Ottawa hospital’s busiest September

The president of CHEO says a child waited in the emergency department 32 hours before being admitted this week, as the children's hospital continues to deal with record patient volumes and staffing challenges.

President Alex Munter outlined the situation at Ottawa's children's hospital during an appearance before a parliamentary committee studying children's health and how the federal government can respond to kids' needs.

Munter told Members of Parliament that 213 children visited the emergency department at CHEO on Wednesday, and staff have seen "nearly 300 patients" a day through a record September.

"The longest length of stay in our emergency department (Wednesday) was 32 hours, that is because we are running occupancy today of 105 per cent which means there are no beds and so children wait in the emergency department with their parents until a bed is available," Munter said Thursday afternoon.

"September is on track to be the busiest September in the history of CHEO, CHEO is a 48 year old organization. May, June and July of this year were the busiest May, June and July in the history of CHEO."

As of Thursday, CHEO was averaging nearly 224 patients a day in the emergency department in September. Last September, which was CHEO's busiest September ever for emergency department visits, the average was just over 221 patients a day.

Munter says CHEO is caring for patients transferred to Ottawa from "far, far away" because of a lack of beds in their community.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, CHEO reported 50 patients waiting to see a physician in the emergency department, with the longest wait time to see a physician over six hours.

On Thursday, Ottawa Public Health declared Ottawa is in a new wave of COVID-19, adding Ottawa is "heading into the respiratory illness season where we expect respiratory viruses to be circulating."

Munter says the high patient volume has resulted in cancelled surgeries and procedures for young patients, and the wait list for care is getting longer and longer.

"Here's what you won't see today if you come to CHEO – you won't see the children whose surgery has been cancelled because we have no beds, we need to reallocate surgical beds for kids being admitted for respiratory viruses including COVID," Munter said.

"You won't see the thousand to 1,500 kids who will be referred this month and will be referred for diagnostic imaging, medical or surgical clinics, mental health care, rehabilitation care."

Munter warned Members of Parliament that 12,000 to 18,000 children would be added to the wait list for procedures this year.

"Why should you care about it happening at CHEO? Because it's kids, it’s the future. When a child has to wait for diagnosis, for care or for therapy, they suffer," Munter told MPs. "They suffer today and tomorrow and this year and next year, and that's bad enough. On top of that, it could affect and it will affect for many the entire trajectory of their lives."

The record number of patients and 105 per cent occupancy rate at the children's hospital comes as the hospital deals with a staffing shortage.

"You won't see the approximately 250 staff and physicians whose positions are vacant because of the mission critical health human resources challenges that we face in Canada," Munter said.

The Standing Committee on Health held a hearing on Thursday as part of a study on children's health.