It has been revealed that a growing number of people in British Columbia are leaving emergency rooms without receiving care. Between 2018 and 2025, that cohort nearly doubled in size.According to data from the BC Ministry of Health, in Fiscal Year 2018-19 a total of 76,157 people left the emergency room without receiving care. In FY 2024-25, that number ballooned to 141,961.There was a spike following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the situation had gotten progressively worse. Between 2023 and 2025 alone, the number of people who went to emergency rooms but left without being cared for rose by 18%.The numbers varied greatly by health authority. The north fared particularly well, with little change between 2018 and 2025. In the Interior, Vancouver Coastal, and Vancouver Island health authorities, the uptick was more noticeable..The Fraser Health Authority saw the highest number of people leaving emergency rooms without receiving care, with 64,972 such cases recorded in FY 2024-25. The region, which encompasses much of the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, saw its population grow rapidly between 2018 and 2025, with that trend expected to continue well into the future."When patients first arrive at the ED, they are triaged and seen based on acuity," Health Minister Josie Osborne said in a statement to the CBC. "The sickest patients are always seen first. Patients are never turned away from the ED."She explained that "the number of patients that leave the ED without being seen is a small proportion of the total number of visits to the ED," and that, "in general, patients with lower acuity levels are more likely to leave the ED without seeing a physician."The aforementioned dataset did not show people's reasons for visiting the emergency room.
