Emergency Department visits are often life changing events for seniors, threatening their loss of independence, health and well-being.

Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH) has one of the busiest Emergency Departments (ED) in the city with 80,265 patient visits in 2021-2022. 23,255 of these patient visits are from patients over the age of 65. This represents 1 out of 3 ED visits.

Our team of specialized registered nurses work in the QCH's ED 7 days a week, 12 hours a day as Geriatric Emergency Management (GEM) nurses. They provide targeted, emergency geriatric assessment to seniors and help them access appropriate services so they can be safely discharged home.

Frail other adults represent 30 per cent of the patients seen in the EDs, more than any other age group. Illness complexity, hospital admission rates, length of stay, and functional decline are the highest for seniors.

Learn more about Geriatric Emergency Management (GEM) here.