Alberta hospitals face numerous factors creating lengthy wait times

If you’re in need of care at a hospital, you could end up sitting in the waiting room for many hours as several factors are causing slowdowns for patients and staff.

Alberta is still dealing with a surge of COVID-19 cases, as well as seasonal influenza infections spreading around, while also grappling with continued staffing shortages.

In short, a perfect storm has been created at health care facilities.

“We are holding on to an inordinate number of admitted patients who don’t have a place to go upstairs. The hospitals are full,” said Dr. Eddy Lang, head of emergency medicine with Alberta Health Services in the Calgary zone.

Wait times do fluctuate throughout the day, stretching beyond six hours as was the case on Friday morning for Calgary hospitals like Foothills and Rockyview General. The Alberta Children’s Hospital has also been seeing some of the longest wait times lately as we also see more young people sick.

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“That could be perhaps because of more widespread viral transmission in the classrooms, especially now that the mask mandates have been lifted. But it’s sometimes hard to plan staffing for the unexpected,” Lang added.

While COVID-19 continues to garner much of the focus in Alberta after a two-year-long pandemic, it can be hard to forget about the flu.

The number of cases being virtually non-existent due to the pandemic health measures is behind us, and there are over 100 Albertans in hospital with the flu.

AHS said in a statement that this is partly the reason why we are seeing the long wait times.

“Emergency departments are also seeing an increase in patients with influenza-like symptoms, and in patients seeking care after deferring it at various times over the past two years.

“This has meant emergency department wait times sometimes reaching winter peak levels. Specific measures fluctuate on a given day and site. The system has always been subject to spikes in volume that cause overcrowding and delays, especially in the winter. We hope to see relief soon as the level of COVID-19 circulating begins to drop.”

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Lang said it doesn’t seem like we are dealing with the worst situation ever in terms of wait times, and does expect it to level out in due time.

But it remains a frustrating situation for staff as well, with the United Nurses of Alberta saying the shortage of healthcare workers has still not been solved and there are also more nurses out sick dealing with the same viral transmission and thousands of other Albertans.

“It’s very concerning, it’s absolutely terrifying for nurses right across the province,” said UNA President Heather Smith. “We’ve got increasing demands and we have failed to acknowledge that we have a serious crisis.”

Smith said nurses are feeling “discouraged, exhausted and exploited” as they do their best to help as many patients as possible.

However, at the end of the day, they cannot do as much as hospitals continue to fill up.

“Some people just cannot be moved through, this is not McDonald’s where your lineup can be sped up. Emergency departments are becoming, in some cases, inpatient units and for some people, their entire experience is in fact in an emergency department. But that comes back to the root causes,” said Smith.

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AHS added that people can help reduce the strain as well by making sure they need to be in a hospital in the first place, by either calling 811 or checking with a family doctor.

It also should be stressed that people who are in the most serious need of care will be seen as soon as possible.

“If they’re in a lot of distress or in seriously high risk, they’re going to be seen right away,” said Lang.

“But for those that are not in that high acute situation, unfortunately, they could be looking at a lengthy wait,” said Lang.

–With files from Tom Ross