Wait times to see a doctor in Ottawa hospital ERs exceed provincial average

The main entrance of Ottawa's Queensway Carleton Hospital in seen in this undated photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

The wait time to see a doctor exceeded the provincial average at all Ottawa hospital emergency rooms this summer, with the Queensway-Carleton Hospital having one of the longest wait times in the province.

Statistics from Health Quality Ontario show the provincial average for waiting to see a doctor for a first assessment in an emergency room was two hours in August.  

The Queensway-Carleton Hospital had the longest wait of all Ottawa emergency rooms, and third longest in Ontario, at four hours. The wait time dropped from 4.1 hours in July.

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The average wait time for a first assessment in the ER in August was 2.8 hours at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus (2.8 hours in July), 2.7 hours at the Ottawa Hospital General Campus (2.6 hours in July), 2.7 hours at the Montfort Hospital (2.6 hours in July) and 2.7 hours at CHEO (2.6 hours in July).

The Hawkesbury and District General Hospital has the longest wait in Ontario for a first assessment by a doctor in the ER, at 4.7 hours.  The Kingston Health Sciences Centre reported an average wait to see a doctor of 2.8 hours at the Kingston General ER.

Health Quality Ontario also reported on the average time "low-urgency patients" spent in the emergency room without being admitted to the hospital. The provincial average in August was 3.2 hours. Here is a look at the average time patients spent in an Ottawa hospital ER without being admitted:

• CHEO – 4.2 hours
• Ottawa Hospital Civic Hospital – 4.6 hours
• Queensway-Carleton Hospital – 5.1 hours
• Montfort Hospital – 5.4 hours
• Ottawa Hospital General Campus – 5.6 hours