Thank God the budget is OK!! I wonder whether the patients in the shower room, the overworked nurses, and the patients that sit around with broken bones for days waiting for an operating room are as thrilled about this news as I am?

7 hour wait times in the emergency room has gotten out of control. The place is filthy as well. Who ever set up the system there set it up to fail. For what purpose is a mystery to me. I have had to spend a lot of time there recently with my daughter who has no imunity and I have been discusted with the stupidity of staff who think she can sit with the general public for 7 hrs just so she can recieved the ordered IV therapy. Ridiculous!! If Prince George ever had a epidemic of some kind...GOD HELP US ALL!!!

ER waits are due to people who decide that they don't want to wait to see their family doctor or can't take time off during the day because they are "too busy"so they come there with there big emergencies and then wonder why they have to wait.
ER is full of holding pts that they don't have beds for and that restricts the number of bays in use for ER. More often than not,Minor Trmt is full of pts that are also waiting for beds so they can't fast track people through there as its now a holding area.
If your daughter is so immune compromised why isn't she in hospital?Is she wearing a mask and gown? Where would you like the staff to put her??in a space they don't have?Write a letter to administration or call them and voice your concerns- admin.doesn't work the floors-don't take it out on staff.Personally, I think they should all boycott coming to work on the same day and see what chaos reigns!!
We the willing,
Led by the unknowing
Are doing the impossible for the ungrateful And have done so much for so long,with so little,we are now prepared to do anything with nothing

Nice word play on the ungrateful/willing, ontwin, but can you quit the abbreviating already? Not all of us are in the medical jargon loop, and may have difficulty understanding the lingo.
And how can you expect the emergency ward to operate smoothly all the time since it is impossible to predict how much business you are going to get, except on full moon welfare Wednesdays of course. I tend to agree with your comment suggesting that a lot of people could wait and go see their GP but take umbrage with your "too busy"
Some of us are indeed too busy, and we really hate to waste your time and everything, but could you try and understand things from your patient's perspective? Some folks don't have a family doctor as you well know, some folks aren't too bright and want to take junior to the emerg. for a slight cough when it could obviously have waited to see the GP the next day. I also agree that emerg. should be for trauma cases, there really should be more walk in clinics to deal with all the cold and flu cases. I have spent plenty of time cooling my heels in the E.R. sometimes dripping blood while I waited, so can relate. Invariably, the E.R. staff have been professional, and often friendly, especially if you have an unusual injury that you all want to get a look at. None of us like to wait, and some of us will be grumpy, but I assume you chose your own career path so deal with it (please ;>)
metalman.

Now who's being "wordy"??

ER-emergency room
pts-patients
Trmt-treatment
The word play at the end was directed at hospital administration-the people who don't work in the trenches.
And you're wrong about being in the profession so that should ease your mind.

Ontwin, We the willing, being led by the unknowing, how true. Excellent choice of words.