Brantford General Hospital experiencing 'significantly higher patient volumes'

People heading to the emergency department at Brantford General Hospital may have a long wait ahead of them.

The Brant Community Healthcare System, an organization that oversees the Brantford General Hospital and the Willet Urgent Care Centre in Paris, is warning the public they are seeing increased wait times.

“Over the last two to three weeks we have seen high volumes and higher acuity amongst our patient population,” Dr. Somaiah Ahmed, Emergency Department Chief and Medical Director at the Brant Community Health Care System said on Tuesday.

She said there are multiple factors behind the increase, including that the respiratory virus season hit earlier than normal.

“It’s been related to an increased surge of RSV, COVID-19, and influenza in our communities and people obviously seeking care,” she said.

Ahmed said the heightened demand also coincided with family doctors and clinics reducing their hours for the holidays, leaving patients with fewer care options.

Hospital staffing levels are also a concern.

“There are illnesses that have impacted our staff just like they would have impacted our patient community,” Ahmed added.

On Tuesday afternoon, Brantford General Hospital’s website listed the estimated average wait time before seeing a doctor as two hours and 12 minutes.

That's not far from the provincial average of 2.1 hours according to the government’s latest data on emergency department wait times from October.

Dr. Michael Herman with the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians told CTV News, “I think it's a national crisis, to be quite honest.”

Herman said wait times are long across the country, and in order to decrease them he believes the entire healthcare system needs to be better organized.

He believes a “top-down integration” of primary care, emergency departments, hospitals, outpatient support and consultation processes would help to address the problem.

Herman said that falls mainly on provincial governments, but federal and municipal governance also plays a role.

In the meantime, Ahmed is asking patients in Brant County for patience.

“All we ask is that when you come, to know that there might be longer than expected waits. We ask for people's patience through this time. We are doing our best.”