Wellington County hospitals are advising patients of longer-than-usual wait emergency room wait times of up to 24 hours.
“Our wait times are less than our urban partners, but we’re seeing a dramatic increase,” said North Wellington Health Care Alliance president and CEO of Angela Stanley.
While wait times fluctuate daily, she said they’ve recently gone up to six hours – sometimes even 12 or 24 – at Grove Memorial, Mount Forest and Palmerston hospitals.
This is because they are seeing a higher volume of patients coming into their emergency department, as well as staffing issues.
“If we’re short (staffed), it does take longer to move patients through.”
Care will be prioritized based on need, and patients should be prepared to wait if their issue isn’t urgent.
For non-urgent needs, patients are urged to contact family doctors, nurse practitioners, on-call services or walk-in clinics before heading to the emergency room.
