New BrunswickA Saint John emergency room doctor says he’s not surprised by the damning numbers coming out of this week’s auditor general’s report.Auditor general report says only 34 per cent of patients seen in an appropriate amount of timeJordan Gill · CBC News · Posted: Dec 12, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Dr. Fraser Mackay, an emergency room physician in Saint John, said he’s happy ER issues are being made public. (CBC)A Saint John emergency room doctor says he’s not surprised by the damning numbers coming out of this week’s auditor general’s report.“All of these issues are so well known by those of us in the trenches and all of the different organizations that have been advocating for years for increased resources in addressing the issues,” said Dr. Fraser Mackay, who works at the Saint John Regional Hospital. “It’s really nice to see this being made public.”In his report, Auditor General Paul Martin said only 34 per cent of patients are seen within an acceptable timeframe, based on indicators from the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians.The Department of Health has “a lack of strategy to address … excessive wait times,” Martin said.Health Minister Dr. John Dornan contends the government is making progress on ER wait times. (Victoria Walton/CBC)On Tuesday, Health Minister John Dornan acknowledged the numbers aren’t great, but said the report only takes into account data up to the end of last year, when the Liberals were elected.He said the government is making progress.“We have already initiated many of the recommendations in that report,” Dornan said.“We are holding ourselves and our emergency departments more accountable. We are looking at shortening the wait times that exist at the time of that report.”Lack of bedsMackay believes Dornan is keen to engage with the issues and understands the problems, but also said the issues in emergency departments aren’t of the departments’ making.Instead, Mackay points much of the blame at overcrowding in hospitals in general.A lot of people taking up beds in emergency departments are patients who have already been admitted to the hospital, he said.WATCH | ‘You’re not waiting because we don’t care,’ says Dr. Fraser Mackay :N.B. emergency department physician says much of auditor general report rings true A new report from the auditor general shows wait times in New Brunswick’s emergency rooms are above the national benchmark. Emergency department physician Fraser Mackay calls this ‘crisis situation’ a capacity issue.A lack of available beds in regular hospital wards means more admitted patients are being shunted into emergency room beds, causing a shortage of beds for emergency patients, leading to longer wait times, Mackay said.“The emergency departments are run very well. Their staff are exceptionally dedicated and efficient at their jobs, but their hands are really quite tied because of the bed-block issue,” he said.Political willMackay also puts much of the blame for the struggling system on what he calls “fixes that fail.”“Little tinkerings here and there within the emergency department itself to increase flow through the department to increase speed at triage and that sort of thing, which is great.“But they don’t address the root-cause problems because the root cause is … systemwide,” Mackay said.LISTEN | An ER doctor in Saint John speaks about the AG report:Shift – NB15:01ER Wait TimesWe speak with an ER doctor in Saint John about the Auditor General’s report on emergency room wait times in the province.While Dornan insists progress is being made, Mackay said he hasn’t seen any change in emergency departments yet.But he acknowledges the system is an “incredibly cumbersome beast to deal with” and does see understanding from the Department of Health and a willingness to change.“I do think there’s an appetite for that for sure,” said Mackay. “It’s just a matter of, can we maintain the political will to build that momentum.” ABOUT THE AUTHORJordan Gill is a reporter based in Fredericton, New Brunswick.With files from Shift
N.B. emergency room issues ‘well known,’ says ER doctor
