When Calgary (and now Edmonton) emergency room physicians say the health system is in a state of imminent collapse, they can indeed point to a regrettable state of affairs. But sadly, it is nothing new and to raise the matter four days before a provincial election suggests this is more than merely a spontaneous expression of frustration..It is, rather, a disingenuous political stunt intended to embarrass the UCP and affect the election outcome..Not that this is illegal. Neither is it unethical. But context is important and absent from mainstream news reporting is that Dr. Joe Vipond, the most-quoted physician associated with the letter has a record over the years of donating nearly $20,000 to the NDP. No reason why he shouldn't of course, but it is important when considering the timing of the complaint to consider who’s complaining, and why now..First though, let’s give the physicians their due: Nobody goes to emergency for fun. Wait times are too long. Severe cases — trauma victims or those about to expire from a heart attack — will be triaged into the system promptly enough. But otherwise, you can sit there for a long time, wondering first what’s the matter with you, second how long it will be before somebody tells you and not infrequently trying to avoid eye-contact with some of the other clients of the system..And yes, you can sit there for as long as 15 hours. Or you could, anyway. My late step-daughter experienced several unconscionably long waits and my wife and I thought then, and continue to think now, that this was a serious failure of everything. Certainly, it was a disincentive to seeking timely treatment for serious symptoms..However, not everybody does now, or ever did, wait that long..For April to September last year, the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the most reliable aggregator of hospital statistics, makes the median in Alberta a little over two hours for less serious cases. That is, half those visiting ER were turned around in what most people would consider an acceptable time. For those ultimately admitted it was considerably longer — a nine-hour median — but that speaks to the time it takes to find a bed, as well as the time it took to decide that one was needed..It’s also the Canadian way of course; the CIHI numbers place Alberta’s performance last summer in the middle of the pack. Ontario ER wait times can be as long as 20 hours..Are wait-times a problem that can be fixed, then?.There are some reasons to believe so. Certainly, EMS drop-off times, a sore point for years especially in the rural areas, have improved dramatically in the past six months. Removing patients to community care has freed up dozens of acute care hospital beds..And the emergency physicians notwithstanding, Alberta Health Services interactive data that posts real-time ER waiting expectations, suggests a 15-hour wait is not universal. Things may be considerably better, depending upon the time of the day and which hospital or health facility is under consideration..Thus at the time of writing, about 12 hours after the Calgary physicians issued their letter, ER wait times at Calgary’s Sheldon M. Chumir Centre were under three hours for less serious cases (“Urgent Care”) and about an hour at the South Calgary Health Centre..The more serious emergency waits were three to four hours except for the Peter Lougheed Centre, which was 2 hours and 53 minutes. And so on..I have every confidence that when they said they wanted to fix wait times, every premier of any party in all provinces, meant what they said. But, when Rachel Notley had her turn in Alberta, you wouldn’t have noticed any improvement and if you needed major surgery, your wait times went up..The bottom line here is that while ER wait times are a problem, they’re a national problem, not just an Alberta problem. And they’re an enduring problem: Only the weather attracts more complaints..Whoever forms government, I wish ’em luck..As for the physicians, no story here.
When Calgary (and now Edmonton) emergency room physicians say the health system is in a state of imminent collapse, they can indeed point to a regrettable state of affairs. But sadly, it is nothing new and to raise the matter four days before a provincial election suggests this is more than merely a spontaneous expression of frustration..It is, rather, a disingenuous political stunt intended to embarrass the UCP and affect the election outcome..Not that this is illegal. Neither is it unethical. But context is important and absent from mainstream news reporting is that Dr. Joe Vipond, the most-quoted physician associated with the letter has a record over the years of donating nearly $20,000 to the NDP. No reason why he shouldn't of course, but it is important when considering the timing of the complaint to consider who’s complaining, and why now..First though, let’s give the physicians their due: Nobody goes to emergency for fun. Wait times are too long. Severe cases — trauma victims or those about to expire from a heart attack — will be triaged into the system promptly enough. But otherwise, you can sit there for a long time, wondering first what’s the matter with you, second how long it will be before somebody tells you and not infrequently trying to avoid eye-contact with some of the other clients of the system..And yes, you can sit there for as long as 15 hours. Or you could, anyway. My late step-daughter experienced several unconscionably long waits and my wife and I thought then, and continue to think now, that this was a serious failure of everything. Certainly, it was a disincentive to seeking timely treatment for serious symptoms..However, not everybody does now, or ever did, wait that long..For April to September last year, the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the most reliable aggregator of hospital statistics, makes the median in Alberta a little over two hours for less serious cases. That is, half those visiting ER were turned around in what most people would consider an acceptable time. For those ultimately admitted it was considerably longer — a nine-hour median — but that speaks to the time it takes to find a bed, as well as the time it took to decide that one was needed..It’s also the Canadian way of course; the CIHI numbers place Alberta’s performance last summer in the middle of the pack. Ontario ER wait times can be as long as 20 hours..Are wait-times a problem that can be fixed, then?.There are some reasons to believe so. Certainly, EMS drop-off times, a sore point for years especially in the rural areas, have improved dramatically in the past six months. Removing patients to community care has freed up dozens of acute care hospital beds..And the emergency physicians notwithstanding, Alberta Health Services interactive data that posts real-time ER waiting expectations, suggests a 15-hour wait is not universal. Things may be considerably better, depending upon the time of the day and which hospital or health facility is under consideration..Thus at the time of writing, about 12 hours after the Calgary physicians issued their letter, ER wait times at Calgary’s Sheldon M. Chumir Centre were under three hours for less serious cases (“Urgent Care”) and about an hour at the South Calgary Health Centre..The more serious emergency waits were three to four hours except for the Peter Lougheed Centre, which was 2 hours and 53 minutes. And so on..I have every confidence that when they said they wanted to fix wait times, every premier of any party in all provinces, meant what they said. But, when Rachel Notley had her turn in Alberta, you wouldn’t have noticed any improvement and if you needed major surgery, your wait times went up..The bottom line here is that while ER wait times are a problem, they’re a national problem, not just an Alberta problem. And they’re an enduring problem: Only the weather attracts more complaints..Whoever forms government, I wish ’em luck..As for the physicians, no story here.
