Concordia University student, Christos Lianos, shares his harrowing experience of waiting for 15 hours in the emergency room (ER) at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital, only to travel to Kingston, Ontario for a diagnosis of appendicitis and emergency surgery.
Lianos recalls falling suddenly ill in mid-June and visiting the Royal Victoria Hospital, suspecting it was appendicitis due to a high fever and pain in his lower right abdomen. He was informed of an expected 10-hour wait and provided Tylenol for pain relief. The waiting room was crowded, with approximately 100 people, and Lianos was informed that only two doctors were available.
After enduring over 12 hours of waiting, Lianos’ parents arrived from Kingston. Frustration grew, particularly for his mother, leading to a heated exchange with a nurse and subsequent security intervention. At this point, the family made the difficult decision to return home. Lianos was eventually admitted to Kingston General Hospital after an additional four-hour wait.
The diagnosis confirmed Lianos’ suspicion: his appendix had burst. An inflamed appendix can lead to peritonitis, a dangerous infection within the abdominal cavity. Lianos underwent surgery to remove the appendix and spent ten days in intensive care to treat the resulting infection.
Patient rights advocate Paul Brunet expressed concern over Lianos’ experience, emphasizing the need for proper attention and care in emergency wards. The McGill University Health Network (MUHC), in an email statement, acknowledged that the emergency department was operating at 197% capacity that day, with over 30 patients from the previous evening still awaiting treatment. The MUHC explained that these patients were considered higher priority or had been waiting longer.
Reflecting on the situation, Lianos raises the unsettling possibility that he could have lost his life in the waiting room, considering the severity of his condition. A study by the Montreal Economic Institute published in March highlighted the increasing wait times in Quebec’s ERs, revealing that patients at the Royal Victoria Hospital experienced a median wait time of nine hours and 55 minutes in 2022, a significant increase compared to seven hours and 19 minutes in 2018.