Saskatoon emergency room patients waiting almost a full day to get a hospital bed
Saskatoon emergency room patients were waiting an average of 21 hours for a hospital bed last week.
In some cases wait times were as long as 53 hours.
John Ash, executive director of acute care for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), provided the figures in a physician town hall Oct. 7.
"So these are patients that have been admitted to the emergency department that are waiting in the emergency department for a bed which is obviously not ideal," he said.
The number of COVID-19 patients in Saskatchewan has tripled since Aug. 30, which is the highest number since the start of the pandemic, he said.
As of Oct. 5, 65 people across the province had been admitted to hospital with no bed available at the time of admission. SHA spokesperson Doug Dahl told CTV News that number can vary throughout the day as patients are admitted, discharged or transferred between units and facilities.
In the town hall, Ash also noted the maximum times paramedics had to wait to offload their patients: eight hours at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, six hours at Regina General Hospital and 4.5 hours at Pasqua Hospital.
There have also been delays at Moose Jaw Hospital, which are "almost unheard-of," he said.
"So those are significant impacts to our system."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.