Emergency room wait times rising in Windsor-Essex

Emergency departments at hospitals across Ontario are getting busier as most of the province prepares to enter Stage 3 of reopening, and although Windsor-Essex remains in Stage 2, wait times are growing here too.

According to the latest data from Health Quality Ontario, the average person going to the emergency room (ER) at the Met campus of Windsor Regional Hospital waited almost two hours before they saw a doctor. At the Ouellette campus, they waited 1.3 hours, and at Erie Shores HealthCare patients waited 1.4 hours before seeing a doctor.

That's well above the provincial average of just over an hour.

"What we've seen is fairly comparable to what we'reseeing across the province and the rest of the country,"Dr Wassim Saad, Windsor Regional's chief of staff said on CBC's Windsor Morning.

"We are starting to see volumes go up and we're trying to manage those volumes."

Saad explained that added safetyprotocols due to COVID-19 has significantly slowed down hospital staff's efficiency rate.

Although Windsor Regional has been "up-staffing," Saad said there is still a great shortage of ER physicians and anesthesiologists. The hospital has conducted "aggressive recruiting," he said, hiring three more anesthesiologists. But because many of their ER physicians and nursing staff work in the U.S., they are still having trouble filling positions.

As hospitals began to ramp up elective surgeries, Saad said many patients waited too long to see a doctor, specifically when it came to heart attacks and strokes.

"With both of those conditions we know time is of the essence," he said. "The message has always been throughout the pandemic and more so now, do not delay when you need medical attention."

Saad said many patients he has spoken to are still holding off on having their elective surgeries.

"I don't think anyone should wait," he said.

If a second wave of COVID-19 were to hit, Saad said it's better to receive medical attention for elective procedures now, rather than waiting.

Currently there are only two COVID-19 patients at Windsor Regional Hospital, and both are in ICU, said Saad.

The hospital's in-patient capacity is filling up, said Saad, but officials are closely monitoring the flow of patients to maintain an increased capacity for a potential COVID-19 influx.