Canadian woman waits 15 hours in ER for appendicitis, blames health care delays
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A woman seeking emergency care for severe abdominal pain recently shared her frustration on social media with long wait times at a Canadian hospital.
Amanda Gushue, 37, visited her first doctor – who sent her to the emergency department with a swollen appendix.
After waiting two hours for an exam, she was sent to the waiting room – where she was shocked to learn it could be five to 15 hours before she could see a doctor or nurse.
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Finally he waited another 10 to 12 hours before he showed up.
“There were about 150 seats and they were all full,” Gushue, a resident of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, told Fox News Digital. “This is what we experience when we go to the hospital every time – you’re looking at spending a full day there.”
Amanda Gushue, 37, sought emergency care for severe abdominal pain and shared her frustration with long wait times at a Canadian hospital. (Amanda Gushue)
Gushue revealed that an old lady came in with a head wound, “bleeding a lot,” and we had to wait two hours before being seen.
Gushue said the long wait time is due to a shortage of doctors. “We have a lot of nurses, but no doctors.”
Even after her admission, Gushue said she received poor care and was not given enough privacy.
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Canada has a universal health care system that is funded by taxes, according to the government’s website.
Eligible residents of a province or territory can apply for public health insurance to access free health care services, the website said.
“I’d rather pay for my health care right now and be treated properly,” Gushe said.
After waiting two hours for an examination, the patient, who is over 30 years old, was sent to the waiting room – where he was shocked to see the 15 hour waiting time displayed. (Stock)
Part of the problem is that Canada is “too crowded,” he said, voicing his opinion.
“The health care system is overworked right now, and these doctors may be exhausted,” she said. “They work around the clock, and then after a 16- or 17-hour shift, you get a crazy doctor.”
Gushe finally entered. He had his appendix removed last week.
He is now recovering and said he is “feeling good.”
“I’d rather pay for my health care right now and be treated fairly.”
In 2024-2025, there were more than 16.1 million unplanned emergency department visits in Canadian hospitals, an increase from about 15.5 million the year before, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
Among those patients admitted to the hospital from the emergency department, nine out of 10 ED visits were completed within 48-½ hours, the source said. Of those who were not accepted, nine out of ten were completed within eight hours.
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Average wait times vary widely by state, CIHI said.
Some of the main factors contributing to extended wait times include staffing and bed shortages, hospital flow issues (due to lack of access to primary care), and overcrowding leading to system stress, according to the Canadian Medical Association.
“The health system is overworked right now, and these doctors may be exhausted,” Gushue said. (Stock)
Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency room doctor in Edmonton, recently shared with the Calgary Journal that he sometimes sees more than 100 people in his hospital’s waiting room, which only has 30 seats.
“People can’t stand, they stand. Some are on the ground, and we hope they are alive,” he said. “And you walk through this carnage, and start your day.”
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The doctor added that some patients wait all night to get help. “What used to be a massacre is now something new,” he said, according to the report.
Another ER doctor, Dr. Michael Howlett, president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, also shared his concern about the situation.
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“I’ve worked in emergency departments since 1987, and it’s the worst we’ve ever been. It’s not even close,” he told CityNews, a Canadian news agency.
“We have people dying in waiting rooms because we don’t have a place to put them,” he continued. “People are being woken up on an ambulance stretcher or on the ground. Those things have happened.”
Canada has a universal health care system that is funded by taxes, according to the government’s website. (Stock)
In January, Alberta’s hospitals minister announced an investigation into the death of a 44-year-old man who died after waiting nearly eight hours in an Edmonton emergency department with chest pains, according to local reports.
A review of the system has since been completed by Acute Care Alberta, which identified emergency department overcrowding and screening challenges. The review issued a number of recommendations to prevent similar incidents, although an official investigation into the death is still ongoing.
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The government has also announced new roles for doctors to coordinate triage at major hospitals, as doctors report continued overcrowding and capacity problems.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Nova Scotia Health and Health Canada for comment.
