A month after the start of the school year, the emergency room at CHU Ste-Justine, in Montreal, is still overflowing on Monday.
When our journalist came by in the morning, 85 children were waiting to be seen by a doctor. Many parents unable to make a clinic appointment had no choice but to go to the emergency room, even if it meant having to wait several hours with their sick child.
Here are some testimonials we have collected:
“She has been dragging something for about a month (…) We are barrouette a little from one side to the other, so we decided to come here»
“His family doctor is on vacation. I called the clinic; they say, “we can’t pass you today, and tomorrow is not guaranteed.” I went around ten clinics, so I had no choice but to bring her back here, she has had a fever for four days.
“I have ten hours, I’m pretty sure. I heard earlier that there was a ten-hour wait (…) I’ve been looking for an appointment on clic-santé for two days… There’s nothing»
There are currently many viruses in the emergency room of the CHU Ste-Justine. Winter and autumn microbes are very present, mainly causing respiratory infections and gastroenteritis
“Children, during the pandemic, were not really exposed to viruses and when we deconfined in March, at that time, the viruses spread everywhere in daycare centers and schools. There, we see a bit of everything,” says the emergency physician at the CHU Ste-Justine, Dr. Michael Arsenault.
The latter notes continuous overflows for several months in the emergency room.
“It’s getting worse and worse,” admits the emergency physician.
The wait time climbs to 12 or 14 hours each day on average, says Dr. Arsenault, adding that he has already seen a patient wait 25 hours in the emergency room.
“I’ve been doing emergency full-time here in Ste-Justine for 25 years and it’s really the worst I’ve seen,” he proclaims.
To see the full explanation, watch the video above.