Our hospital emergency waits half-hour shorter than average

Data released by the Ontario Hospital Association show that Sault Area Hospital emergency wait times aren't as long as the average for Ontario's public hospitals.

Measurements of emergency waits are divided into two categories.

The “wait time for minor conditions” assessment considers “the maximum amount of time nine out of 10 patients spend in the department receiving care for minor or uncomplicated conditions.”

The local hospital’s score - calculated between December 1, 2010, and December 31, 2010 - was 3.8 hours.

That result is better than the provincial level (4.3 hours) and represents an improvement over the 4.5 hours Sault Area Hospital recorded last August.

The province’s target for minor conditions waits is four hours.

Meanwhile, Sault Area Hospital also beats the provincial score when it comes to emergency wait times for “complex conditions.”

Each measurement in this category “begins when patients are registered and ends when they are admitted to a hospital bed. Ordering tests and waiting for results in order to determine the best course of treatment will add to total times, as will waiting for a hospital bed to become available.”

Sault Area Hospital’s 10 hours (versus 9.5 last August) compares with 11.5 hours for Ontario’s public hospitals.

Emergency wait times are among various “patient experience indicators” posted on the OHA’s myhospitalcare.ca website.

Association President and CEO Tom Closson said: “myhospitalcare.ca was designed to promote public access to hospital performance information in a way that is easy to understand and navigate. By making hospital performance information easy for people to access, myhospitalcare.ca is empowering patients and demonstrating hospitals' commitment to transparency."

Closson added that by promoting transparency, information on the website is meant to inspire improved performance, enhance patient safety and strengthen the public's confidence in Ontario's hospitals. ////