Quebec doctors are speaking out about overcapacity issues hitting emergency rooms across the province this summer.
On Thursday night, Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital was operating at 285 per cent capacity, and the Royal Victoria Hospital was at 177 per cent.
By Friday morning at 8:45 a.m., the situation at the Royal Victoria Hospital had slightly worsened to 194 per cent, and mildly improved at the Jewish General to 183 per cent.
Elsewhere in the province, the occupancy rates were even higher on Friday. In the Montérégie region, Hôpital Barrie Memorial was at 220 per cent capacity. In Côte-Nord, CMSSS de la Minganie was at 200 per cent.
Seeing these sorts of occupancy levels in July is “definitely unusual,” according to Dr. Gilbert Boucher.
He’s the president of the Quebec Association of Specialists in Emergency Medicine of Quebec, as well as an emergency room physician at the Montreal Heart Institute.
Boucher told Radio-Canada that the overcapacity could be due to a combination of factors — including the recent heat wave, which sends more vulnerable people to hospital with heart and respiratory issues.
In some regions, Boucher said wait times to access the 811 health information line have also increased dramatically over the past few weeks.
“As a result, patients end up coming to the emergency department. In many cases they’ve actually tried to get help elsewhere first, but they simply couldn’t access it,” said Boucher.
On Friday afternoon, Santé Québec did acknowledge that calls volumes are higher.
Spokesperson Catherine Brousseau told Radio-Canada that 811 is currently receiving an average of 6,400 calls per day, compared with 4,900 during the same period last year.
Beds closed due to staffing, says doctors
There are also fewer hospital beds currently available, says Boucher.
“Some healthcare workers are on holiday, and certain hospital beds are closed because we don’t have enough staff,” he explained.
WATCH | Why emergency room traffic might jump in the summer:
Quebec’s overcrowded emergency rooms are taking a toll on physicians
Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital is operating at 242 per cent capacity, while the MUHC and Lakeshore are also exceeding 200 per cent. Physicians say the summer surge in emergency room visits has made the past few weeks especially challenging.
Quebec doctors warned the province about this issue four years ago, saying closing hospital beds to compensate for staff vacations could lead to compromised care.
Dr. Gabrielle Voisine, an emergency care physician at the Anna-Laberge Hospital in Châteauguay, said she isn’t aware of any beds being closed at her hospital due to summer vacations. But even with all services at “full steam,” her hospital has still been extremely busy.
“We’re submerged by patients that are trying to get care,” said Voisine, adding that she’s seen some patients wait as long as 24 hours to be seen.
She estimates there were roughly 140 people in her emergency room during a 24-hour period last Sunday.
“So that’s really difficult because there is a physical limit to the space we have in the hospital too, and a limit to the actual number of doctors that can be on staff at one time,” she said.
Voisine said she tends to treat more trauma cases this time of year due to people getting into accidents while biking or doing outdoor sports.
She’s also noticed more patients coming in with tick-related concerns.
Solutions for an overburdened system
Voisine’s advice is for people to take all possible precautions while enjoying the outdoors to avoid a trip to the emergency room.
“If there’s any kind of protection you can wear while being out and about — wearing your helmet while you’re cycling, things like that, I think that’s also useful,” she said.
She admits, though, that prevention can only go so far when dealing with an aging population and a health-care system that’s stretched thin.
Many beds in her hospital are currently being occupied by patients waiting for a space in long-term care. Voisine believes that’s an issue that needs to be urgently addressed by the province.
Dr. Judy Morris, an ER physician and the former president of the Quebec’s association of emergency physicians, says the “ER problem is not just the ER problem.”
“The numbers have been creeping up over the past few years, without going back down,” said Morris.
She added that the hospital and emergency room “can’t be the sole solution for everyone,” in order for patients to get the kind of care they deserve.
In an emailed statement to CBC, Santé Québec said emergency rooms are experiencing high demand this week, primarily because of an increase in the number of consultations.
It said emergency departments are seeing between 9,060 and 9,160 visits per day, a volume comparable to the same period in 2025.
According to Santé Québec, the most common reasons for visits are abdominal pain, minor ailments, lower-limb pain and lacerations.
The agency encouraged people to call 811 before going to the emergency room when appropriate and pointed to several online health advice sheets available to the public.
“At our level, our efforts are focused on finding solutions to prevent service disruptions, working closely with health-care facilities to ensure continuity of care and a smooth summer,” the statement said.