CALGARY – A new report suggests the causes of Canada’s long emergency department wait times often lie far beyond the emergency room itself, with shortages in hospital beds, long-term care and community supports creating a bottleneck that is leaving some patients waiting days for care.
“This is a national problem. Every province is struggling with this,” said Dr. Paul Parks, president-elect of the Alberta Medical Association’s Section of Emergency Medicine and an emergency physician.
The report, released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, found that one in 10 emergency department patients — about 1.5 million people — spent more than 14 hours in the emergency room in 2024-25.
“Increased population” was cited by an Alberta Doctor, not the report.
