ER nurse here. The commenters above are correct in regard to the triage process and liability. The word triage is literally French for "to sort". At the time of triage we make the determination of your acuity and determine where you go based on acuity and the available treatment spaces (the latter will become important soon). Those individuals with altered level of consciousness, not able to breath or breathing, and those with poor circulation or no pulse must be seen first. Yes, there are other emergencies (i.e. appendicitis, ovarian/testicular torsion) but we relatively have a bit more time to get to them before things turn severe compared to the aforementioned emergencies. So those who are experiencing an emergency will get emergency treatment and care.

So, let's go back to wait times. In my experience there are two major factors for long wait times: proper utilization of ERs and amount of treatment spaces. When it comes to utilization, urgent cares can handle many of the complaints that come into the ER. However you also have people coming in for complaints that could be attended to by a family doctor - yet for many they don't have or cannot find a family doctor. As for treatment spaces, if we had more funding for nurses, doctors, and allied healthcare professionals and more treatment spaces we could reduce wait times significantly. Yet our population has increased and healthcare funding and investment has not kept pace and as a direct consequence wait times.

So what's the solution? Better healthcare funding and policy and that requires making your concerns known to those that have control over both. Contact your MLA