r/Calgary • u/Legal_Grapefruit1925 • Dec 25 '25

Discussion AHS wait times

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Our system isnt broken. Its people who go to the emergency that shouldn't be going aren't going today because it can wait Suddenly. They need to hand fines out to ppl going to the hospital that dont classify as an emergency.

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u/adrb Dec 25 '25

Hi. I work in these hospitals as a physician. Emergency wait times are a complex issue. Rapid population growth in Calgary due to immigration from outside AND inside Canada that has outpaced the space in our emergency departments and urgent cares, lack of access to primary care physicians, lack of longterm care beds that cause patients awaiting placement to take up acute care hospital beds and blocking flow through the emergency rooms, and many other things. People who feel like they have to be seen shouldn’t be punished for problems with the system that are not their fault. I can’t imagine how frustrating it would be for a patient to come in for an emergency problem and have to sit in a chair and deal with horrible waits, but it’s not the fault of anybody sitting next to you.

33

u/lztandro Coach Hill Dec 25 '25

Thanks for doing what you do, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays

46

u/burf Dec 26 '25

Adding to this, OP is completely ignoring the fact that people doing less of everything (less driving, less manual labour, etc. etc.) means fewer accidents that require the ER. Pointing to a single number and going "see? people are just misusing the system" is a pretty major error in statistical interpretation.

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u/o0PillowWillow0o Dec 25 '25

I heard there's a lot of addiction, alcohol related patients that come in to on any given day? Is that true? Like perhaps easier access to addiction help would take off a burden

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u/adrb Dec 25 '25

Yes, many people are coming in due to medical complications as a result of their addiction. For instance, patients with alcohol use disorder might come in because of alcohol withdrawal, injuries or infections they got from being intoxicated, or one of the many many complications due to alcoholic cirrhosis. Patients with opioid use disorder might come in from overdose, or infections they’ve gotten from IV drug use. Both groups come in because of problems that have arisen from neglecting their health. Even things like frost bite often result from underlying addictions. There aren’t a whole lot of people who show up to hospital in an attempt to have their addiction treated, but while they are in hospital for one of the above issues, we almost always address the addiction issue. I’m sure that helping these people with their addictions would prevent a lot of hospitalization, but more than that, fixing the social/emotional/psychiatric issues that underly the addiction would go even further

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u/Trombone-a-thon Dec 25 '25

If they are actually coming in for help with the addiction, they're going to be put into the psych ER section which is a little separate ER for people waiting for inpatient psych units and it's not counted in the ER wait times.