Posted on 04/03/2011 6:33:21 AM PDT by BillM
In April 2008, the government announced that reducing wait times in emergency rooms and improving access to family health care are its two most important health care priorities over the next four years. Currently, 126 hospital sites across Ontario are submitting ER information to the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) for reporting on this website. This represents 90 percent of ER visits throughout the province.
The amount of time a patient spends in the Emergency Room is referred to as “Total Time Spent in the ER” and is measured from the time patients register or initially see a triage nurse, until the time they leave the ER. The time patients leave the ER may be when they are sent home after being treated or when they are admitted to a hospital bed, if medically necessary.
(Excerpt) Read more at edrs.waittimes.net ...
Does the Canadien/Canadian system have zillions of illegals using their emergency rooms as primary care outposts? Maybe a Canadien/Canadian could enlighten us south of your border types. Our ER’s are jammed to the rafters with illegals.
Nope, but we have lots of legal ones who never paid into the system.
Up here if you aren’t registered with a family doctor your only options are a clinic if you can find one or the ER. If you need to see a doctor you are going to wait! If it’s a weekend, holiday, or after hours in many cases the ER is the only choice. Think about it, the waiting times are on average more than 8 hours. Not only that, but the hospital charges you for the parking (conflict of interest?)!
The only hope you have here is have a family member in health care to get better service.
Free but there isn’t any?
The farthest thing from FREE! The cost of this system will consume Canada! There needs to be intense competition, innovative thinking and a massive education of the population about the things they can do themselves for their health to be protected.
You are so right!!! People here and in my home country, America, need to take personal responsibility for their health through weight control and fitness. Health care use could be cut dramatically. I really feel sorry for those folks who think Obamacare is the answer. Their quality of live will plummet with the additional financial burden borne by those not “friends of Obama”.
In some Provinces Govt. run DeathCare ( my word for it ) accout for 40% or more of the entire budget NOW ! Imagine when all the destruction baby boomers responsible for this mess retire and get older !
NOW, the FACT is in Quebec the argument against a monopoly was won in court- Chaoulli v. Québec “ Access to a waiting list is not access to health care...”.
That was for Quebec only BUT the court did say Govt. Deathcare is a violation of Article 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights.
So, it`ll take 10 more suits across Canada to destroy Tommy Douglas`s Communism or a complete meltdown of Provincial budgets to force the neo-marxists politicians to do the right thing.
How long do the patients wait to see a triage nurse?
A couple of years ago my wife's cat bit her (that's the way it goes) on the hand. later that evening there was a lot of swelling. Form prior experience we knew she needed antibiotics and even the brand and dose. She had to go to the ER because she couldn't get the drug without a doctor's prescription. She called me 3 hours later and said “screw it, I'm more likely to get some other infection in the ER!”. Fortunately her doctor was working and we got the drugs the next morning. By the way, wife is ex registered nurse.
Oh boy.
Good luck!
Those wait times look similar to what I’ve experienced in U.S. military hospital ER’s. What’s the common factor? Socialized medicine.
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