Occupancy Rates Surging at Quebec Emergency Rooms After Dropping Earlier This Month

A paramedic loads a stretcher into an ambulance after bringing a patient to the emergency room at a hospital in Montreal, on April 14, 2022. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

Occupancy rates in Quebec’s emergency rooms are shooting up again after a small period of reprieve that began Dec. 19.

Website Index Santé shows the average ER occupancy rate at six a.m. was 112 percent, up from 95 percent the previous day.

Eight of Quebec’s regions showed a rate of over 100 percent, including Montreal at 118 percent, the Laurentians at 148 percent, and 138 percent in Lanaudière.

The situation was slightly better in Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches, where rates ranged between 92 and 96 percent as of this morning, as well as in Estrie and the North Shore, which showed 96 and 80 percent occupancy.

The average wait time on Dec. 26 was a little over four and a half hours, but that rose to 15 hours and 40 minutes for people waiting on stretchers.

Last week the province’s health minister asked Quebecers to avoid ERs, noting that a large percentage of people who go for a consult there don’t have an urgent health problem.