Fraser Health emergency department wait times are now available online

As doctors at one of the region's busiest hospitals speak out about a staffing crisis in the emergency department, Fraser Health has announced that wait times for emergency care throughout the region are now available online. 

Emergency wait times for the region's hospitals and urgent and primary care centres have been added to an online dashboard, which refreshes every five minutes and gives patients an idea of how long they will wait from the time they are assessed by a triage nurse to when they see a doctor. 

According to Fraser Health, more than 2,000 people access its emergency departments every day, and the region has seen a seven per cent increase in emergency visits since before the pandemic. 

The health authority has also acknowledged that patients are waiting "longer than usual" for emergency care but did not explain what is normal compared to current wait times. 

"It's all about giving patients the information they need to make informed choices," Fraser Health Regional Medical Director of Emergency Medicine Dr. Craig Murray said.

The dashboard project was launched several years ago by Vancouver Coastal Health, Murray said, and Fraser Health has now partnered with them. 

He said Fraser Health wasn't sure patients would find a tool like this useful, primarily because hospitals within the health authority are so far apart. 

But, he said staff felt patients needed to know what wait times are for transparency's sake. 

"It's one more piece of information for the public to use as they wish."

Staffing crisis

Dozens of physicians in emergency departments throughout the Lower Mainland have been speaking out about how staffing shortages are leading to patients having to wait, in some cases days, to receive adequate care. In some cases, doctors claim patients are dying because of the long wait times. 

Staff say a lack of hospitalists, or house doctors, to care for patients beyond the emergency room is the primary issue. 

The province has said it is "actively" working to hire more hospitalists. 

The Ministry of Health has promised more spaces in medical school classes, but doctors who spoke to CBC said those new physicians won't hit the ground for a decade.