New website posts Winnipegs emergency room wait times

Winnipeggers will now be able to see what theyre getting into before they head to an emergency room in the city.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has launched a website that lets you see emergency room wait times before you go.

The site catalogues each hospital in Winnipeg, giving visitors the number of patients in each waiting room and the average wait time. It also gives visitors the longest non-urgent wait time.

The WRHAs chief nursing officer, Lori Lamont, said Winnipeggers should still go to the closest hospital because critical cases will be treated in priority.

Hospitals have also posted the wait time information in their own emergency rooms, so patients will know how long they will have to wait when they arrive.

Lamont said the website isn't an exact science though, and things can change.

The website is updated every five or 10 minutes off our system, but those numbers can fluctuate depending on how many people come in to the emergency department, said Lamont.

Lamont said the wait time publishing project is still a work in progress and adjustments will be made as they go.