Below are most commonly asked questions and some important information about the about the Children's Emergency Department at LHSC.
What does the online wait time represent?
The online wait time reflects the most current estimate of how long it will take for non-urgent and non-emergent children and youth to be seen from the time they are assessed by a triage nurse in the Children’s Emergency Department until they are seen by a doctor.
Please note, it is not a guarantee of the length of time you may have to wait. It is an estimate made using the current data collected through Children’s Hospital, at LHSC's health information system.
Should I use the online wait times to seek medical care?
The online wait time tool is meant to give the public general information about estimated wait times at the Children’s Hospital emergency department.
In the case of a serious emergency, always call 911.
Generally, Urgent Care Centres are for minor injuries or illness. If your medical concern isn’t urgent, you may want to consider alternatives such as Virtual Urgent Care, Urgent Care Centres, your family doctor or walk-in clinics. Using any of these options for minor medical concerns helps alleviate pressure on Emergency Departments and reduces wait times for everyone. Wait times published on Children’s Hospital, at LHSC's website should not be considered medical advice or a recommendation to choose a specific method to receive care. Wait times published on Children’s Hospital, at LHSC's website should not be considered medical advice or a recommendation to choose a specific method to receive care.
Why are wait times always changing?
Emergency demand can change quickly depending on patient needs. An incident such as a serious trauma can unexpectedly and significantly impact the wait time for others. The wait time data is updated every 15-minutes allowing us to provide the most current estimated wait times for non-urgent and non-emergency medical concerns at the Emergency Department at Children’s Hospital.
