Montreal emergency rooms overwhelmed with 17-hour stretcher waits

Montreal's emergency rooms are in crisis. Patients on stretchers spent an average of 17 hours waiting Monday, with more than 260 waiting over 24 hours and 129 spending more than 48 hours.

At 9 a.m. Monday, the Royal Victoria Hospital had reached 212 per cent occupancy, while Lakeshore Hospital on the West Island was at 200 per cent. The Jewish General sat at 177 per cent, Montreal General at 165 per cent, and Maisonneuve-Rosemont at 141 per cent. Average ER wait times across the Greater Montreal region reached five-and-a-half hours.

Authorities ruled out recent heat waves as the cause. "Right now, our teams are handling a large number of urgent and very urgent cases, particularly among elderly patients who require observation or hospitalization," said Thaïs Dubé, a spokesperson for Santé Québec Est-de-l'île-de-Montréal Universitaire. "These cases require more time and resources, which explains the increase in occupancy rates and longer wait times for other patients."

The strain extends across the region. In Laval, Hôpital de la cité-de-la-santé hit 173 per cent occupancy. Across Quebec, patients waited an average of four hours and 51 minutes in waiting rooms and 14 hours and 49 minutes on stretchers, with provincial occupancy at 111 per cent.