Health
Patient in Canada waits over 12 hours in hospital emergency room: ‘I’d rather pay’
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A woman seeking emergency care for severe abdominal pain recently shared her frustration on social media with the long wait times at a Canadian hospital.
Amanda Gushue, 37, first visited her primary care physician — who sent her to the emergency department (ED) with a swollen appendix.
After waiting for two hours in triage, she was sent to the waiting room — where she was shocked to see that it could be anywhere from five to 15 hours before she could see a doctor or nurse.
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She ultimately waited another 10 to 12 hours before she was seen.
“There were probably about 150 seats, and they were all full,” Gushue, a resident of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, told Fox News Digital. “This is what we deal with when we go to the hospital on a regular basis — you’re looking at spending a full day there.”
Amanda Gushue, 37, sought emergency care for severe abdominal pain and shared her frustration with the long wait times at a Canadian hospital. (Amanda Gushue)
Gushue shared that one elderly woman came in with a head wound, “bleeding profusely,” and had to wait for two hours before she was seen.
Gushue said she attributes the long wait times to a scarcity of doctors. “We have tons of nurses, but no doctors.”
Even after she was admitted, Gushue claimed she received sub-par care and was not given sufficient privacy.
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Canada has a universal healthcare system that is funded through taxes, according to the government’s website.
Eligible residents of a province or territory can apply for public health insurance to access free healthcare services, the website states.
“I would rather pay for my healthcare at this point and get treated fairly,” Gushue said.
After waiting two hours in triage, a patient in her late 30s was sent to the waiting room — where she was shocked to see a 15-hour wait time displayed. (iStock)
“The healthcare system is overworked right now, and these doctors are probably exhausted,” she said, expressing her point of view. “They’re working around the clock, and then after a 16- or 17-hour shift, you get a cranky doctor.”
Gushue was ultimately admitted. She had her appendix removed recently.
She is now recovering and said she “feels great.”
“I would rather pay for my healthcare at this point and get treated fairly.”
In 2024-2025, there were more than 16.1 million unscheduled emergency department visits in Canada’s hospitals, an increase from about 15.5 million the year before, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
Among those patients who were admitted into the hospital from the emergency department, nine out of 10 of the ED visits were completed within 48.5 hours, the above source stated. For those who were not admitted, nine out of 10 were completed within around eight hours.
Median wait times vary widely by province, CIHI stated.
Some of the main factors contributing to the extended wait times include staff and bed shortages, hospital flow issues (due to lack of primary care access), and overcrowding that leads to system stress, according to the Canadian Medical Association.
“The healthcare system is overworked right now, and these doctors are probably exhausted,” Gushue said. (iStock)
Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency room doctor in Edmonton, recently shared with the Calgary Journal that he sometimes sees more than 100 people in the waiting room of his hospital, which only has 30 chairs.
“People who can stand, stand. Some are on the ground, and we’re hoping they’re alive,” he said. “And you walk by this carnage, and then you start your day.”
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The doctor added that some patients wait all night to receive care. “What used to be a mass casualty event is now the new norm,” he said, per the report.
Another ED physician, Dr. Michael Howlett, who is president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, also shared his concerns about the situation.
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“I’ve worked in emergency departments since 1987, and it’s by far the worst it’s ever been. It’s not even close,” he told CityNews, a Canadian news outlet.
“We’ve got people dying in waiting rooms because we don’t have a place to put them,” he went on. “People [are] being resuscitated on an ambulance stretcher or a floor. Those things have happened.”
Canada has a universal healthcare system that is funded through taxes, according to the government’s website. (iStock)
In January, Alberta’s minister of hospitals announced an investigation into the death of a 44-year-old man who died after waiting nearly eight hours in an Edmonton emergency department with chest pain, according to local reports.
A system review has since been completed by Acute Care Alberta, identifying emergency department overcrowding and triage challenges. The review issued multiple recommendations to prevent similar incidents, though a formal investigation into the death remains ongoing.
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The government also announced new triage liaison physician roles in major hospitals, as physicians report continued overcrowding and capacity issues.
Fox News Digital reached out to Nova Scotia Health and Canada Health requesting comment.
Novo Nordisk to slash Wegovy, Ozempic list prices
Board certified rheumatologist Dr. Mahsa Tehrani discusses Novo Nordisk’s decision to dramatically cut the U.S. list prices for its popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy on ‘America Reports.’
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Millions of Medicare beneficiaries struggling with obesity could soon see the cost of weight-loss drugs plummet, as a new federal pilot program launching July 1 expands access to GLP-1 medications like Wegovy and Zepbound for eligible seniors.
Through a new trial called Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, the federal government is now offering a selection of the brand-name medications to certain Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries for $50 a month, The Associated Press reported.
The covered medications include drugmaker Eli Lilly’s Foundayo tablets and Zepbound KwikPens and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy injections and tablets, all of which have been FDA-approved for weight loss, according to the report.
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The temporary program is set to run until the end of 2027.
This is the first time GLP-1s (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) will be covered by insurance when used solely for weight loss.
A new federal pilot program launching July 1 expands access to GLP-1 medications like Wegovy and Zepbound for eligible seniors. (iStock)
Prior to this new Medicare pilot, seniors who wanted to access GLP-1s for obesity alone paid about $1,350-$1,650 per month for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) and about $1,086 monthly for Lilly’s Zepbound (tirzepatide). However, both manufacturers offered some cash-pay options that significantly reduced those prices for eligible patients.
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There are some parameters surrounding the coverage — older adults must have had a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher when they started GLP-1 therapy, or a BMI of 27 or higher alongside another health condition, such as a past heart attack or stroke or prediabetes.
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Those who already have insurance coverage for other diseases, such as diabetes and sleep apnea, are not eligible for the program.
Through a new trial called Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, the federal government is now offering a selection of the brand-name medications to certain Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries for $50 a month. (iStock)
There are more than 70 million Americans currently enrolled in Medicare, 10 million of whom are overweight or obese, according to Juliette Cubanski, vice president and director of the program on Medicare policy at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF.
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“For many older Americans living with obesity, this is a moment they and their families have been waiting for,” Jamey Millar, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of U.S. operations, said in a press release.
“The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program offers a new, affordable path to an FDA-approved treatment that was previously not covered.”
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said he hopes the program can help his agency collect data to potentially work toward longer-term coverage, while providing immediate relief to cash-strapped older Americans, AP reported.
“The sheer cost of these medications is a huge barrier to access,” he said in a call with reporters. “That ends today.”
Prior to this new Medicare pilot, seniors who wanted to access GLP-1s for obesity alone paid about $1,350-$1,650 per month for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) and about $1,086 monthly for Lilly’s Zepbound (tirzepatide). (iStock)
Oz told reporters that CMS plans to “carefully track participation and outcomes” to see whether an extension of the Bridge program or another solution is the best way to move forward. He told AP a federal law permanently allowing the coverage is “not essential right now” but something “for Congress to debate amongst themselves.”
“We can’t decide what’s going to happen long term with Bridge until we see some of the data,” he said, adding that there are ongoing talks with drug companies to lower costs.
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One potential concern is that older patients tend to have more adverse effects to medication in general , according to Dr. Micah Eimer, a clinical assistant professor of cardiology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
“Specifically, in our research, older patients on blood pressure medications were more likely to experience hypotensive side effects, such as fainting and dizziness, after starting a GLP-1,” he said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Federal health officials are attempting to track down the source of a microscopic parasite that triggers prolonged gastrointestinal illness, as domestic cases begin to climb for the summer season.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed 145 cases of cyclosporiasis across 17 states as of mid-June 2026, all linked to infections acquired in the U.S.
The culprit is Cyclospora, a microscopic parasite known to cause cyclosporiasis.
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The hallmark symptom of the infection is watery, often “explosive” diarrhea that can last for weeks or even months if left untreated, the CDC says.
There is currently no evidence of a single, multistate Cyclospora outbreak linking all cases. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)
Other symptoms include severe abdominal cramping, bloating, nausea, fatigue and significant weight loss.
The official outbreak season for the parasite runs from May 1 through Aug. 31, a window where warmer temperatures historically coincide with a spike in infections, according to the CDC.
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Cases have cropped up in states ranging from Texas to Alaska. New York has been hit the hardest so far, reporting between 31 and 80 cases, followed by Texas and Illinois, which have each reported between 11 and 30 cases.
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While the infection can sometimes clear up on its own, it frequently requires antibiotics. Out of the 145 confirmed cases, 20 patients have required hospitalization, per the CDC.
While the infection can sometimes clear up on its own, it frequently requires antibiotics. (iStock)
No deaths have yet been reported. Patients range from 5 to 86 years old, though the median age is 42, and women make up 61% of the reported cases, data shows.
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The CDC, alongside the Food and Drug Administration and state health officials, is actively investigating several multi-state clusters, but they have yet to find a cause behind the spread.
Officials urge patients with symptoms to seek help from a medical professional. (iStock)
“There is currently no evidence of a single, multistate Cyclospora outbreak linking all cases,” the CDC noted in its surveillance report.
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The CDC advises anyone experiencing symptoms of cyclosporiasis to contact a healthcare provider for testing and treatment.
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