ER wait times down across Outaouais, but still lag

Wait times at Outaouais emergency rooms are slowlyimproving but still lag behind other Quebec hospitals, new numbers reveal.

According to data obtained by Radio-Canada from Quebec's health ministry, patients who requiredstretchers atOutaouais emergency rooms between April and October 2017 spent an average of 16.8 hours per visit waiting to be admitted

That average response time represents aneight per cent improvement over localwait times forthe same period in 2016, but it's still more than three hours behind theQuebec average of 13.6 hours.

Regional wait times vary

Patients on stretchersat the Hull Hospital and the Gatineau Hospital experienced some of the longest wait times in the region, having to wait an average of 17.9 and 17.8 hours, respectively.

Average wait times were significantly shorter at the Maniwaki Hospital (11 hours) and the Pontiac Hospital (9.8 hours) in Shawville, Que.

Quebec's health ministry has been making a bid to reduce overcrowding in the province's emergency rooms, recently proposing a 24-hour cap on stretcher waits before patients are admitted, released or transferred to another health facility.

The province's medical community has concluded the idealaverage waittime shouldn't exceed 12 hours, Health MinisterGatan Barrette said in August.