You can now see how long the ER wait is in Cambridge without leaving home

Cambridge Memorial Hospital now has a emergency department wait time clock, making Waterloo region the first in the province to have all hospitals offer this service.

• Local hospitals boast best ER wait times in the province in 2017: LHIN

The wait time clock is on the hospital's website and shows how long someone can expect to wait between being seen by a triage nurse and seeing a doctor or nurse practitioner.

It showsthe wait time in half-hour increments, how many patients are waiting and being treated at any given time. It also shows when the emergency department is busiest over the next six hours, based on historic trends.

"This is about improving the patient experience when they visit our emergency department,"said Rita Sharratt, director, Clinical Programs in a news release Wednesday.

"It gives us the means to provide useful and consistent information to patients. It helps them with their expectations and provides some with a choice, which can lessen the stress when visiting an emergency department."

According to the hospital, the wait time clock is accurate to the 90th percentile, meaning nine of 10 patients will be seen within the estimated wait time though it doessay patients that are seriously ill will be seen first and so wait times can vary.

Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital also have emergency department wait time clocks, which went live in 2014 and 2012 respectively. All three use technology provided by Oculys Health Informatics, based in Waterloo.