SickKids experiencing 'much longer than normal' wait times for non-emergencies
Longer than normal wait times should be expected at the emergency department at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.
On Tuesday evening, SickKids tweeted its emergency department is experiencing “extremely high patient volumes and much longer than normal wait times for non-emergent issues.”
Dr. Jason Fischer, division head of emergency medicine at SickKids, said an overwhelming number of patients are currently visiting the hospital due to viral season and a lack of primary caregivers.
“We're seeing lots of viruses circulating. Kids are getting coughs, colds and fevers. But the second issue is that there's just a lack of access to care. We're hearing from families that they're having trouble accessing their primary care, their family doctor, their pediatrician, their local urgent cares are busy, their local emergency departments are busy,” Fischer told CP24 Wednesday morning.
He said the hospital has experienced wait times up to 12 hours, which can vary depending on the time of day.
“As everyone knows, patients don't all arrive nicely spaced out throughout the course of the day. And if we have a large volume of patients arrive in the late evening, wait times can be three to four times what we would normally expect,” he said.
In its tweet, the hospital said that it will continue to treat the sickest patients first.
SickKids also advised visitors to come prepared with water bottles, nut-free snacks, phone chargers and entertainment.
Dr. Dina Kulik, pediatrician and founder of Kidcrew Medical, said her clinic has also seen a surge of visitors in the past couple of weeks.
“So tons of pinkeye, tons of viral rashes, runny nose, cough, sore throat, stomach flus. It's really all the viral symptoms you can see, we're seeing in kids right now,” she told CP24.
The influx of patients at SickKids and other medical facilities comes as a recent study that revealed more than 170,000 patients in Ontario lost their family doctors in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study, led by Unity Health Toronto and non-profit research institute ICES, found the number of family physicians who stopped working doubled between March and September 2020 compared to the same time period in 2019.
“Nearly 1.8 million Ontarians don’t have a regular family physician,” Dr. Tara Kiran, lead author of the study and a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto, said in a statement. “Our findings suggest things are only going to get worse, which is really concerning because family medicine is the front door to our health system.”
To avoid an unnecessary visit to the emergency department, Kulik recommends that parents monitor their children at home if they have mild symptoms, including a runny nose, mild cough or diarrhea, or visit their doctor's office or walk-in clinic.
“Unless a child is having difficulty breathing, difficulty with keeping anything down in terms of drinking, losing consciousness, unless they're having really significant emergency worthy symptoms, we do want to avoid kids using the emerg unnecessarily,” she said.
Fischer also recommends that parents get their children vaccinated against both the flu and COVID-19 to reduce their chances of illness, and to use online resources to assess their child’s symptoms.
“The next thing is to use the resources that are available online, like ‘AboutKidsHealth’ that's available on our SickKids website. And also our SickKids virtual urgent care platform that allows parents, caregivers, patients to go online and to check and see if their symptoms require an emergency visit or if they can wait until the symptoms subside,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Police arrest 3 Indian nationals in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Human remains found in rural Sask. possibly a decade old, RCMP say
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.