Particle.news
Download on the App Store
6 ARTICLES
·
3mo ago

Over 1.2 Million Canadians Left ERs Without Care in 2024, MEI Report Finds

The think tank links the rise in walkouts to long waits rooted in primary‑care gaps.

A report showed that 9.8 per cent of patients left Nova Scotia emergency departments in 2024 before receiving treatment.
A hospital is pictured in a file photo.
An exam room in the new Misericordia Community Hospital emergency department is shown in November 2022.
Patients waiting in an emergency room in this file photo. A new report says more British Columbians than ever are leaving emergency rooms without being treated.

Overview

  • The MEI tallied 1,267,736 early departures out of 16.3 million ER visits in 2024, a national rate of about 7.8% or roughly one in 13 visits.
  • Quebec recorded 428,676 walkouts (11.6%), Ontario 292,695 (about 5%), British Columbia 142,961, and Nova Scotia 54,285 (9.8%), with Prince Edward Island posting the highest percentage at just over 14%.
  • Walkout rates have climbed sharply since 2019 in several provinces, including Alberta (+77%), Newfoundland and Labrador (+94%), and Manitoba (+88%), with Ontario also worsening over the period.
  • About half of those leaving were triaged as semi‑urgent or non‑urgent, while higher‑acuity departures remain significant, including level‑3 cases that risk deterioration; B.C. does not track acuity for these departures.
  • MEI recommends expanding nurse‑practitioner clinics, broadening pharmacists’ scope, and allowing independent immediate‑care centres, while Ontario officials counter that recent investments and a new physician agreement will ease pressures; the analysis excludes Saskatchewan and New Brunswick’s Vitalité network due to missing 2024 data.