Canadian woman waits 15 hours in ER for appendicitis, slams healthcare delays
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A woman who sought urgent care for severe abdominal pain recently shared her frustration on social media about long wait times at a Canadian hospital.
Amanda Gushue, 37, first visited her primary care doctor, who sent her to the emergency room for a swollen appendix.
After waiting two hours in triage, he was sent to the waiting room; Here he was shocked to see that it could take 5 to 15 hours to see a doctor or nurse.
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He waited another 10 to 12 hours before he was finally seen.
“There were probably about 150 seats and they were all full,” Gushue, a resident of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, told Fox News Digital. “That’s what we face when we go to the hospital on a regular basis; you want to spend a full day there.”
Amanda Gushue, 37, sought emergency care with severe abdominal pain and shared her frustration with long wait times at a Canadian hospital. (Amanda Gushue)
Gushue said an elderly woman arrived with a head injury that was “bleeding profusely” and had to wait two hours before being seen.
Gushue said he attributed the long wait times to the shortage of doctors. “We have tons of nurses but no doctors.”
Even after being admitted, Gushue said he was given subpar care and not given adequate privacy.
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Canada has a universal healthcare system funded by taxes, according to the government website.
Residents of a province or region who meet the appropriate conditions can apply. public health insurance To access free healthcare, the website states.
“At this point, I would rather pay my health care costs and be treated fairly,” Gushe said.
After waiting two hours in triage, a patient in his late 30s was sent to the waiting room; He was shocked to see a 15-hour wait time displayed here. (iStock)
Expressing his perspective, he said part of the problem is that Canada is “overpopulated.”
“The healthcare system is overworked right now, and these doctors are probably exhausted,” he said. “They work 24 hours a day, and after a 16- or 17-hour shift you get a grumpy doctor.”
Gushe was ultimately accepted. He had his appendix removed last week.
He is currently recovering and said he “feels great.”
“At this point, I would rather pay my health care costs and be treated fairly.”
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), there were more than 16.1 million unplanned emergency department visits to hospitals in Canada in 2024-2025; This number was approximately 15.5 million compared to the previous year.
The above source noted that nine out of 10 emergency room visits for patients admitted to the hospital from the emergency room are completed within 48.5 hours. Nine out of 10 of the rejections were completed in about eight hours.
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CIHI noted that average waiting times vary greatly by province.
According to the Canadian Medical Association, some of the main factors contributing to long wait times include staff and bed shortages, hospital flow issues (due to lack of access to primary care), and overcrowding leading to system stress.
“The healthcare system is overworked right now, and these doctors are probably exhausted,” Gushue said. (iStock)
Dr., an emergency room physician in Edmonton. Warren Thirsk recently shared with the Calgary Journal that he sometimes sees more than 100 people in his hospital waiting room, which has only 30 chairs.
“There are people who can stand. Some are on the ground and we hope they are alive,” he said. “And you walk past this carnage and then you start your day.”
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The doctor added that some patients wait all night for care. “What used to be a mass casualty event has now become the new norm,” he said, according to the report.
Another emergency room physician, Dr. D., who is president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. Michael Howlett also shared his concerns about the situation.
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“I’ve been working in emergency rooms since 1987 and this is the worst it’s ever been. It’s not even close,” he told CityNews, a Canadian news outlet.
“We have people dying in waiting rooms because we have no place to put them,” he continued. “People are being resuscitated on ambulance stretchers or on the ground. These things happened.”
Canada has a universal healthcare system funded by taxes, according to the government website. (iStock)
In January, Alberta’s Minister of Hospitals announced an investigation into the death of a 44-year-old man who died after waiting nearly eight hours in an Edmonton emergency room suffering from chest pain, according to local news reports.
A system review has since been completed by Acute Care Alberta, identifying emergency department overcrowding and triage challenges. The review made numerous recommendations to prevent similar incidents, but a formal investigation into the death is ongoing.
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The government also announced new triage liaison physician roles in major hospitals as doctors reported continued overcrowding and capacity issues.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Nova Scotia Health and Health Canada requesting comment.
