Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) may be facing recent challenges in pediatric care, but it remains one of the provincial leaders with some of the shortest wait times.
New data out shows the average length of stay in an emergency room at KGH was three hours and 24 minutes, compared to an average of four hours and 13 minutes across British Columbia.
The report from the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) thinktank shows time spent in emergency rooms in B.C. have increased by 1 hour and 1 minute over the past five years.
“Having to spend long hours waiting in an emergency room may be the norm in British Columbia, but in other developed countries, it isn’t,” said Emmanuelle B. Faubert, economist at the MEI and author of the report.
“It’s clear that solving the issue of long wait times requires looking at best practices from abroad, such as Europe’s mixed systems, to finally give patients the timely access they deserve.”
In Canada, the median length of stay varies significantly, ranging from 2 hours and 45 minutes in Newfoundland and Labrador to 5 hours and 23 minutes in Quebec. Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia have not yet provided the requested data on their median length of stay.
Victoria General Hospital and Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre recorded the longest visit times in British Columbia last year, with a median stay of 6 hours and 36 minutes.
