Most Montreal ERs operating at overcapacity

The number of patients is on the rise again in Quebec emergency rooms, after a slight lull around the holiday period.

While the occupancy rate for stretchers had fallen below 100 per cent for a few days, it is now back up to over 120 per cent.

For the province, the occupancy rate for stretchers was 126 per cent around 11 a.m. Thursday, according to data provided on the Index Santé website.

“When we talk about hospital and ER overcrowding its not due to one single thing, it’s a combination of factors that are contributing to the fact that our ER’s are just so overwhelmed,” says Montreal cardiologist & epidemiologist, Dr. Christopher Labos.

Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital was seeing the highest occupancy rate in the city at 11 a.m. – 226 per cent full, with The Royal Victoria Hospital at 209 per cent, and the Montreal General Hospital at 187 per cent.

On the West Island, the Lakeshore General Hospital was at 194 per cent.

“This is a problem that we’ve been dealing with for years now. Just high occupancy rates have almost become normal, and that’s unfortunate because you’re not providing the best quality care,” Dr. Labos said.

The occupancy rate is based on the number of people on site waiting to see a doctor and the number of patients on stretchers. The rate has been increasing since Christmas, at 87 per cent on Dec. 26, 99 per cent on Dec 27, 103 per cent on Dec. 28, and 109 per cent on Dec. 29.

According to the most recent data, the average length of stay of people in the waiting room now is 5 hours and 12 minutes.

Last month a Montreal man reportedly died of an aneurysm a day after spending six hours in an emergency room before giving up and going home without care.

“And that’s worrisome because if you’re going to the emergency room and you spend 12 hours and you don’t get seen, most people are going to say, ‘well, I guess I’m fine then, right? If they’re not seeing me, I must be a low priority’ and you go home,” Dr. Labos explained.

“[But] that person has never actually been seen and that sort of thing has the danger of becoming more and more common unless we fix the underlying problem, which is a problem with access.”

At the start of the holiday season, Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services encouraged avoiding going to gatherings if you have flu-like symptoms and emphasized other options to ERs, such as the pharmacy, 811, or clinics for non-urgent health problems.

The circulation of respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza (seasonal flu) and COVID-19, has been increasing in recent times, according to the ministry.

In Laval, Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé had an occupancy rate of 163 per cent, while every hospital on Montreal’s South Shore and in the Montérégie is operating at overcapacity.

On the plus side, the CHU Sainte-Justine and the Montreal Children’s Hospital were well below the average occupancy rate, with 56 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.

Similar situation in the rest of Quebec

The occupancy rate for stretchers was over 100 per cent on Thursday morning in Chaudière-Appalaches, the Laurentides and Lanaudière, Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec, and Outaouais.

For Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Capitale-Nationale, Côte-Nord, Estrie, Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, the regional occupancy rate was still below 100 per cent, even though some emergency rooms were exceeding their capacity.

Health Ministry urges only those with serious issues to go to the ER

A rebound in occupancy in hospital emergency rooms after Christmas is a phenomenon that is observed almost every year, since gatherings that take place during the Christmas period lead to an increase in the circulation of viruses, among other things.

What is often observed afterward is an increase in traffic with patients who sometimes delayed a little before consulting, trying to stretch it out so as not to have to spend Christmas in the hospital.

Dr. Labos encourages Montrealers to be up to date on their vaccines, adding that people tend to forget about bringing an overnight bag and properly planning ahead when at the ER.

“All of these little details, which we sort of forget about, that can make the difference. That can honestly make the difference between you spending an extra day in a hospital, which sounds like nothing, but that is one extra hospital bed that could’ve been used for somebody in the emergency room,” he said.

“That’s what contributes to the overcrowding.”