Patient in Canada waits more than 12 hours in a hospital emergency room: “I prefer to pay”

A woman seeking emergency care for severe abdominal pain recently shared her frustration on social media over long wait times at a Canadian hospital.

Amanda Gushue, 37, first visited her primary care doctor, who sent her to the emergency department (ED) with an inflamed appendix.

After waiting two hours in triage, she was sent to the waiting room, where she was surprised to see that it could be five to 15 hours before she could see a doctor or nurse.

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She finally waited another 10 to 12 hours before she was seen.

“There were probably about 150 seats and they were all full,” Gushue, a resident of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, told News Digital. “This is what we deal with when we go to the hospital on a regular basis: You’re looking at spending a whole day there.”

Gushue shared that an elderly woman came in with a head injury, “bleeding profusely” and had to wait two hours before she was seen.

Gushue said he attributes the long wait times to a shortage of doctors. “We have tons of nurses, but no doctors.”

Even after being admitted, Gushue claimed she received poor care and was not given enough privacy.

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Canada has a universal healthcare system that is funded through taxes, according to the government website.

Eligible residents of a province or territory can apply for public health insurance to access free health services, the website states.

“I would rather pay for my health care right now and be treated fairly,” Gushue said.

“The healthcare system is overworked and these doctors are probably exhausted,” he said, expressing his point of view. “They work around the clock and then after a 16- or 17-hour shift, a grumpy doctor shows up.”

Gushue was eventually admitted. He recently had his appendix removed.

He is now recovering and said he “feels great.”

“I would rather pay for my health care right now and be treated fairly.”

In 2024-2025, there were more than 16.1 million unscheduled visits to Canadian hospital emergency departments, an increase from about 15.5 million the previous year, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Among patients admitted to the hospital from the emergency department, nine in 10 of ED visits were completed within 48.5 hours, the source said. For those who were not admitted, nine out of 10 were completed in about eight hours.

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Average wait times vary widely by province, CIHI said.

Some of the major factors contributing to long wait times include staff and bed shortages, hospital flow issues (due to lack of access to primary care), and overcrowding that places stress on the system, according to the Canadian Medical Association.

Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency room doctor in Edmonton, recently shared with the Calgary Journal that he sometimes sees more than 100 people in his hospital’s waiting room, which only has 30 chairs.

“People who can stand, stand up. Some are on the ground and we hope they are alive,” he said. “And you walk through this carnage and then you start your day.”

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The doctor added that some patients wait all night to receive care. “What used to be a mass casualty event is now the new norm,” he said, according to the report.

Another emergency physician, Dr. Michael Howlett, president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, also shared his concern about the situation.

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“I’ve worked in emergency departments since 1987, and it’s by far the worst it’s ever been. It’s not even close,” he told CityNews, a Canadian news outlet.

“We have people dying in waiting rooms because we don’t have a place to put them,” he continued. “People [are] being resuscitated on an ambulance stretcher or on the floor. “Those things have happened.”

In January, Alberta’s hospitals minister announced an investigation into the death of a 44-year-old man who died after waiting nearly eight hours in an Edmonton emergency department with chest pain, according to local reports.

Acute Care Alberta has since completed a review of the system, identifying emergency department overcrowding and triage challenges. The review issued multiple recommendations to prevent similar incidents, although a formal investigation into the death remains ongoing.

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The government also announced new triage liaison doctor roles at major hospitals, as doctors report overcrowding and capacity issues continue.

News Digital has contacted Nova Scotia Health and Canada Health for comment.