Over-capacity ERs are dangerous choke points. But hospital challenges go far deeper
Canadian emergency rooms are overflowing while an array of respiratory illnesses — COVID-19 included — keep circulating. And it's happening against a backdrop of behind-the-scenes backlogs that turn front-line ERs into dangerous choke points.
![Over-capacity ERs are dangerous choke points. But hospital challenges go far deeper](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6638091.1705005693!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/emergency-ambulance-quebec-que-covid-20220414.jpg?#)
![](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6638091.1705005693!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/emergency-ambulance-quebec-que-covid-20220414.jpg)
![A paramedic loads his stretcher back into the ambulance after bringing a patient to the emergency room at a hospital in Montreal, Thursday, April 14, 2022. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have topped 2100 patients in Quebec. A paramedic loads his stretcher back into the ambulance.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6638091.1705005693!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/emergency-ambulance-quebec-que-covid-20220414.jpg)
Canadian emergency rooms are overflowing while an array of respiratory illnesses — COVID-19 included — keep circulating. And it's happening against a backdrop of behind-the-scenes backlogs that turn front-line ERs into dangerous choke points.