Island Health launches estimated ER wait times website

Maryse Zeidler · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 04, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

The wellness authorization for Vancouver Island has launched a website with estimated exigency country hold times for astir hospitals successful its jurisdiction. 

The webpage launched connected July 3 and also notes ER closures and includes accusation astir different resources disposable for radical seeking same-day care, similar the region's urgent superior attraction centres. 

"It's important for radical to beryllium capable to easy find and recognize the antithetic attraction options that are disposable to them truthful that they tin marque the champion prime for themselves oregon a loved one," said Marko Peljhan, Island Health's vice-president for acute objective operations. 

During a media briefing, Peljhan said the listed hold times are not calculated by using real-time data. Instead, they are determined by averaging similar times implicit an eight-week period and are updated each hour.

"This is what volition beryllium your astir apt hold astatine that fixed day and time, but it whitethorn not beryllium wholly close depending connected what's happening successful that moment," Peljhan said, adding that a large incidental could impact the times listed connected the website.

"Emergency departments are precise dynamic places, truthful that could alteration rapidly."

Peljhan said Island Health reviewed respective antithetic ways of gathering the information to database hold times, and it felt that this was the astir close system.

The wellness authorization estimates that 9 retired of 10 patients volition beryllium seen during those estimated times. 

The website emphasizes that the astir urgent cases volition beryllium seen first, and astir radical should beryllium seen sooner than the estimated time. 

Peljhan said anyone with life-threatening needs should skip the website and telephone 911. 

Data connected hold times isn't disposable astatine immoderate Island Health hospitals, however. The hospitals successful Tofino, Alert Bay, Salt Spring Island, Port Hardy and Port McNeill just accidental "open."

Peljhan says that's due to the fact that they usage antithetic bundle to show their hold times. He said Island Health is funny successful investing successful those hospitals' physics wellness records, but it doesn't presently person the capableness to bash that. 

Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health person had akin websites up for respective years.  

'A large measurement successful the close direction'

Langford nonmigratory Rosanna Carbone was blessed to perceive astir the caller website.

"I deliberation that's going to truly assistance radical out," said Carbone, who started a Facebook radical past twelvemonth for radical to stock hold times astatine section exigency rooms.

"It's a large measurement successful the close direction."

Carbonne says she started the Facebook radical aft having taken her son, who was astir 18 months old at the time, to the ER erstwhile she couldn't unafraid an assignment with her household doc for weeks.

She says they waited for astir 7 hours, astatine which constituent they conscionable left. 

Knowing however agelong the hold mightiness beryllium tin assistance anxious parents and different patients beryllium mentally prepared for a agelong wait, Carbonne says, arsenic good arsenic with snacks oregon a telephone charger and different necessities.