What is a wait time?
The wait time presented here refers to the time between being assessed by a triage nurse and seeing a doctor.
What do the patient numbers mean?
Treating = Patients who have had an initial assessment completed by a Physician.
Waiting to be seen = Patients who have not yet had an initial assessment by a Physician.
What does the graph represent?
The graph represents the 90th percentile wait time to see a doctor at different times of the day and is based on data for the past 30 days. The ‘now’ bar represents the current time of the day.
Disclaimer
Stevenson Memorial Hospital's emergency department wait times are provided for general information only. Please be advised that wait times can change significantly and immediately, without warning, and are therefore not guaranteed. Patients will be seen in the emergency department based on their medical condition and the severity of their situation.
Due to rapidly changing demands in the emergency department and the need to see the sickest patients first, your own wait time may be more or less than the time displayed on this website.
The displaying of wait times on Stevenson Memorial Hospital's website is for general information only and is not medical advice, or a recommendation that you choose a different emergency department.
Stevenson Memorial Hospital clearly disclaims all liability for the use of this information, and for any claims, actions, demands, or suits arising from such use.
Stevenson Memorial Hospital does not assume, and is not responsible for any liability whatsoever arising from any person’s use of this website, including any decisions made about their personal health as a result of using this website.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Emergency Wait Times?
Emergency wait times can be many things: the length of wait to be triaged, the length of wait to see a nurse, the wait to see a doctor and the wait until discharge home or to an inpatient floor. For the purpose of the information posted above, wait time refers to the length of time between being assessed by a triage nurse and seeing a doctor.
How will I be assessed for my turn to be seen?
The emergency department does not work on a first come, first served system. It’s important to know that critical patients will be seen first, whether they arrive on their own or via ambulance. Upon arrival in the department, you will be assessed using the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS). You will be seen by a doctor based on that assessment. In simple terms, the sickest patients will be seen most quickly.
How do you calculate Emergency Department wait times?
We measure the wait time posted above as the time from when you are assessed by a triage nurse until the time you see a doctor for assessment. Because new patients arrive frequently, estimated wait times can change significantly.
Your personal experience may vary from these posted wait times based on a number of factors:
- Patients with more life-threatening situations arriving in the Emergency Department after you
- Volume of patients waiting to be seen compared to the number of doctors working
Who updates the wait times on your website? How often is it refreshed?
The computer system that supports our wait times information is powered by VitalHub®. VitalHub’ web-based software takes historic and real-time data from our internal reporting systems and turns it into an understandable report, similar to the weather forecast. Just like the weather, it is important to understand that the data posted here represents the most current information about the chance or probability of waiting for a certain time. This automated system refreshes the data in real-time, ensuring the most accurate information available, and is what allows us to provide this information externally.
