Emergency rooms are getting some relief during Habs games in Stanley Cup playoffs
Quebec officials say about 100 fewer patients arrived in multiple regions on playoff nights as some people delayed nonurgent care.
- Across Quebec, emergency room visits and ambulance calls dip by about 100 patients between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. during Montreal Canadiens playoff games, providing temporary relief to the province's overcrowded healthcare facilities.
- Zackary Levine, chief of emergency medicine at McGill University Health Centre, noted that people delay non-urgent care to watch playoff games, effectively prioritizing the hockey action over seeking immediate medical attention.
- Data shows impact varies by facility; Royal Victoria Hospital occupancy dropped to nearly 167 percent during a recent game, while the Montreal Heart Institute reports a roughly 20 percent increase in cardiac cases during matches.
- Once the final whistle blows, ambulance calls and ER traffic typically return to normal or see slight increases, according to Ellen Caracas, a spokesperson for the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal.
- Emergency chiefs urge patients with non-urgent concerns to use clinics or Quebec's 811 health line rather than delaying care, warning that the emotional intensity of hockey games can pose real health risks.
10 Articles
10 Articles
The Toronto Star
Emergency rooms are getting some relief during Habs games in Stanley Cup playoffs
MONTREAL - For some Quebecers, watching the Montreal Canadiens take to the ice during the Stanley Cup playoffs is more urgent than seeking medical care.
Quebec ER visits are dipping during Habs playoff games as fans put hockey over medical care
For some Quebecers, watching the Montreal Canadiens take to the ice during the Stanley Cup playoffs is more urgent than seeking medical care.Hospital officials in the Montreal area say their emergency rooms generally saw dips in visits during game nights of the first round of the playoffs as the Habs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in a seven-game series.Zackary Levine, chief of emergency medicine at McGill University Health Centre, said many p…
Some hospitals in the Montreal area have seen a decline in traffic in their emergency rooms since the beginning of the series on the evenings when the Montreal Canadiens were in action.
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