Average wait for hospital bed in western Quebec much longer than 12-hour goal

Quebec resident Denis Marcheterre says his mother, who was dealing with cardiovascular issues, once had to wait three days on a stretcher before a hospital bed opened up. 

"No fun. Very stressful," he said of the wait.

It's not a unique experience in the province.

According to statistics provided to Radio-Canada, patients treated in eight hospitals under the Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSO) in western Quebec waited an average of 18.9 hours for a hospital bed from Jan. 30 to Feb. 26 this year.

That's up from 18.3 hours during the same period in 2021, and well below CISSO's 12-hour goal.

Hull Hospital, where Marcheterre says his mother waited, saw the average on-stretcher wait time for a bed increase to 22.5 hours from 20.1 hours, while Hospital De Papineau saw an even larger year-over-year increase to 22.7 hours from 15.5 hours.

Marcheterre, head of the patients' rights organization Action Santé Outaouais, stresses his mother was treated while on a stretcher — a point also emphasized by Marie-Ève Cloutier, director of nursing for CISSO.

Cloutier says the wait times do not reflect how long a patient waited to be seen by a doctor. 

"Everything rests on how many beds are available," she told Radio-Canada.

Marcheterre said the province should increase bed counts and focus more on providing care inside peoples' homes. 

Paul Brunet, a lawyer and head of the Quebec Council for the Protection of Patients, agreed upping the level of home care, particular visits by doctors, is key. It would reduce the number of elderly patients who wind up taking up hospital beds that others then must wait for, he said.

"They're not treated where they should be treated or they should be admitted in long term facilities," Brunet said. 

"Let's work on causes rather than on consequences."