Jewish General launches virtual ER visits, a Quebec first

Montreal adults with urgent but not life-threatening health problems can now see an emergency physician from the Jewish General Hospital by video call instead of waiting in the ER, a service CTV News reported is the first of its kind in Quebec.

The Virtual Urgent Care program is open to people 18 and older with a valid RAMQ card who live in Montreal and are physically in Montreal at the time of the appointment, according to the Jewish General Hospital’s program page. Appointments run Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and can be booked through the hospital’s portal or by a nurse through the Info-Santé 811 line, CTV News Montreal reported.

Doctors can write prescriptions, order imaging or blood tests and give medical advice. The hospital lists examples such as fever, cough, sore throat, flu or COVID-19 symptoms, rashes, minor burns, frostbite, sprains, mild back pain, pink eye and headaches.

“It is an alternative way for ambulatory patients who have an urgent medical need to see a doctor who may not be able to or may not want to come and wait hours in the emergency department,” Dr. Joel Turner, chief of the hospital’s emergency department, told CTV News.

The service is not for emergencies. People with chest pain or palpitations, stroke symptoms, severe breathing difficulty, a severe allergic reaction, loss of consciousness, bleeding in early pregnancy or an acute mental health crisis should call 911 or go to an emergency department in person, the hospital says. It also does not renew long-term prescriptions for chronic conditions or do annual checkups, and the patient must take part in the call personally.

“If there’s any situation where you feel you need to be seen immediately, you should go in,” Turner said.

The program aims to ease pressure on crowded emergency rooms. Santé Québec told CTV News that Quebec emergency departments record nearly 10,000 visits a day, and the Jewish General and the Royal Victoria Hospital are among the busiest in the province. Turner said similar programs already operate in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and the United States, and the goal is to expand the service to other parts of Quebec.

The new option arrives as wait times climb on Info-Santé 811, which handles about 6,000 calls a day. As of Oct. 17, the average wait to speak with a nurse was almost two hours, CTV News reported, citing Santé Québec data.

In other Quebec health news, public health officials have reported a third rabid cat found as cases reached 313. More Montreal news is on our Montreal page.

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