How one of Canada’s busiest ERs made progress against overcrowding
Five times a day, senior managers at Toronto’s North York General get alerts on the ever-rising tide of patients arriving at the hospital’s emergency department.
The updates are colour-coded — and too many “red status” alerts prompt immediate action, with managers huddling with nurses and doctors to find space on medical units.
It’s just one tactic used to make inroads against overcrowding in one of Canada’s busiest emergency rooms.
From a “bed traffic control room” to a special outpatient clinic that strives to keep patients out of hospital, chief executive Dr. Tim Rutledge, a veteran ER doctor himself, cautions there’s no single way to drop wait times for the 107,000 patients arriving each year.