'Do better': Essex mother of sick toddler pens letter to Premier Ford over wait times and cancelled surgery

Canadians are spending more time waiting in emergency departments right now than any other year on record, according to data published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

It’s a reality Laura MacMillan knows all-too-well.

Her son Harris MacMillan has developed croup almost a dozen times since his first birthday.

“It’s been a long year,” MacMillan said Tuesday, noting each time he develops symptoms, which include a barking cough and oftentimes difficulty breathing, it’s a mad dash to the hospital to hurry up and wait.

“If it's a mild case of croup, and he's coughing but just needs the steroids, then we wait and we wait and we wait. And then we finally get them,” she said.

Depending on the severity of her two-year-old’s condition, MacMillan said wait times to see a doctor can be eight to 10 hours.

“We're waiting for hours in the ER, he's vomiting the stroller and he’s vomiting on me. He can't breathe,” MacMillan said. “But what are you going to do? You're surrounded by people who are also sick and also need care. And you just have to stick it out.”

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), 2021 was the worst year on record for emergency room wait times across the nation.

The data indicates nine out of 10 visits for admitted patients were completed within 41 hours, a bit uptick when compared to the 33.5 hours it took to complete a care cycle in 2020.

“The volume of visits has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels,” said Tanya Khan, manager of clinical administrative databases for CIHI.

Windsor Regional Hospital is tops in the province for wait times though the hospital did just receive funding from the province for an additional 18 beds.

Khan says many factors contribute, including the fact that people are sicker. She says well-reported staff shortages and bed capacity continue to linger, but points to other factors that take place outside the hospital.

“Access to primary care, access to home care, long term care, even things like access to virtual care,” Khan said. “All impact the length of stay and volume of visits.”

After repeated hospital trips over the past year and multiple rounds of steroids, Harris finally got a surgery booked in London.

But last week, it got cancelled. MacMillan said the reason provided was a lack of recovery bed space.

MacMillan doesn’t direct her anger at the doctors and nurses trying to help her sick child, she instead penned a letter to Premier Doug Ford.

“We need you to do better. Like we're trying to raise our children and we're trying to keep them healthy,” she said. “Our hands are tied. We need a better system. We need access to care and we're not getting it.”

MacMillan did get some good news late Tuesday.

Harris’ surgery has now been rebooked in London and she’s praying hospitals don’t fill up before then.

“They are overwhelmed and it's our children who are suffering,” MacMillan said. “I don't know what the answer is.”

“I just know we need help.”