April 16, 2024
FORT McMURRAY - Real-time estimated wait times for the emergency department at the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre are now available online, giving Albertans another tool to help them decide where to access care for themselves and their families.
The new wait times can be found at ahs.ca/waittimes, under the tab for Fort McMurray. They are also available on the Alberta Health Services (AHS) app for iPhone and Android mobile devices.
Northern Lights Regional Health Centre is the second site in AHS North Zone to have the estimated wait times available. More will be added as the information and infrastructure become available.
The wait times posted reflect an estimate of how long it takes from an assessment by a triage nurse in the emergency department to being seen by a physician. Wait times do not represent the total time patients may spend at the hospital.
The times are calculated through a software system, which uses current data from the facility that compares the number of people in the emergency department and how sick they are, with the resources that are available and required to treat those patients.
Online estimated emergency department wait times were first posted for hospitals and urgent care centres in the Calgary Zone in 2011, followed by AHS sites in Edmonton in 2012, the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre in 2016, and the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital and Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge in 2017. Regional sites across the Edmonton Zone were added in 2021, Grande Prairie in 2022, and Airdrie and Cochrane urgent care sites in the Calgary Zone were added last year.
Anyone needing emergency care is reminded to call 911, or to go to the nearest emergency department.
Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Our mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans. Our current focus is on reducing emergency department wait times, improving EMS response times, increasing access to surgeries, and improving patient flow.
