Quebec's emergency rooms are bursting at the seams, especially in Montreal and the Outaouais, despite some $60 million spent last year by the Liberal government to relieve pressure on hospitals' front lines, according to an annual report on health care.

For the second year in a row, Montreal newspaper La Presse rated admission times at Quebec hospitals and found the average time to be admitted to hospital through an emergency room is 16 hours and 18 minutes, about 30 minutes longer than two years ago.

The average exceeds Quebec's target wait time of 12 hours, established by Jean Charest's Liberal government in its last mandate.

The survey found only one-third of Quebec's hospitals managed to keep their averages under that limit.

And Montreal hospitals fared poorly compared to regional health centres. While hospitals in Lanaudière, Montérégie and the Lower Saint-Lawrence reported improvements in wait times, Montreal emergency rooms can't keep up with demand.

The hardest-hit was the Université de Montréal Health Centre (CHUM), which finished dead last in the report, with an average 29-hour wait time for emergency admission.

Gatineau, Hull hospitals trail regional hospitals

Among regional hospitals, the Gatineau hospital finished last with an average wait time of 22 hours and 42 minutes, while the Hull hospital came in second-last with an average wait of 17 hours and 36 minutes. At those hospitals, 12 and 7.7 per cent of patients had emergency ward stays of more than 48 hours before being discharged or admitted to other wards, compared to a provincial average of 6 per cent.

However, Roch Martel, president and director-general of the Outaouais health agency, noted that the hospitals did better than in last year's report.

"I think the trend has reversed. One must be optimistic for the future," he told CBC's French language service Radio-Canada, adding that the agency is aware of its problems and has concrete solutions to put in place.

The Gaspé's Hotel-Dieu and the Baie des Chaleurs hospitals topped the list, reporting an average of 8.5 hours.

Province injected $60 million last year

The province added $60 million to hospital budgets last year to cope with increased demand in emergency rooms, but the money seems to have made little difference.

A gastroenteritis outbreak in Montreal last winter helped drive up hospital admission rates temporarily, but people in general are going to emergency rooms more frequently, said Health Minister Philippe Couillard.

In particular, seniors are showing up in ERs with multiple health problems, which bogs down the system.

The only long-term solution is to build up the home care network and bring in family doctor groups who could treat patients who now go to emergency rooms, said Couillard.

Some Montreal hospitals are closing their emergency rooms on a regular basis to discourage people from coming in to seek treatment.

La Presse's survey was based on statistics compiled by the province's Emergency Department Co-ordinating Centre (CCNU) for the year 2006-2007, which finished on March 31.