RVH president cites many factors for long hospital wait times

The president and CEO of Simcoe Muskoka's largest hospital, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH), addressed a recent report revealing troubling wait times in its emergency department.

Janice Skot cited several factors, including patient transfers from smaller hospitals and infrastructure challenges, following the report by Ontario Quality Health that recorded average wait times in the Barrie hospital's ER at nearly two and a half hours in April.

The province-wide average was 1.9 hours before patients could see a doctor.

"Remember, it's multi-factorial," noted Skot. "We need to have enough beds, and therefore we need our ALC patients to safely be discharged, and then that frees up beds and allows our patients to move through the emergency department as opposed to waiting too long for an inpatient stay.

So our building needs to expand in the long-term. In the short-term, I want to assure the public we are doing everything possible in terms of recruitment and staffing."

Skot said the pandemic created staffing shortages that have improved in recent weeks.

The Barrie hospital plans to expand its cold and flu clinic on Sperling Drive, providing an alternative to the emergency room and helping to ease patient wait times.