A new report indicates the average wait time is now 3 hours
A new report is detailing shorter wait times at Ontario hospital emergency departments.
Health Quality Ontario says there has been a 16-percent drop in the average amount of time nine out of 10 patients waited in emergency to see a doctor, decreasing from 3.6 to 3 hours.
The report also found a 10-percent drop over the past seven years in the amount of time 90-percent of patients spent in emergency.
The data also indicates that urban residents spent longer in emergency and waited longer to see a doctor than people living in rural areas.
The findings are based on data from the provincial health ministry and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences as well as accounts from patients and caregivers.
The report also said that many patients who needed to be admitted to hospital had to wait a long time in emergency for a bed.