Alberta Health Services has announced that real-time estimated wait times for the urgent care centre in Airdrie are now available online.

"The new wait times can be found at ahs.ca/waittimes, under the tab for Airdrie. They are also available on the Alberta Health Services (AHS) app for iPhone and Android mobile devices," AHS stated.

AUC is the first AHS regional location in the Calgary Zone to have the estimated wait times available, with plans for more locations will be added as the information and infrastructure become available.

"The wait times posted reflect an estimate of how long it takes from an assessment by a triage nurse in urgent care to being seen by a physician. Wait times do not represent the total time patients may spend at the hospital."

The times are calculated through a software system, which uses current data from the facility that compares the number of people in the emergency department and how sick they are, with the resources that are available and required to treat those patients.

This calculation does not account for seriously ill patients, who will be seen immediately, and patients with non-urgent concerns, who may wait longer to be seen depending on resources.

Online estimated emergency department wait times were first posted for hospitals and urgent care centres in the Calgary Zone in 2011, followed by AHS sites in Edmonton in 2012, the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre in 2016, and the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital and Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge in 2017. Regional sites across the Edmonton Zone have added a year ago and Grande Prairie Regional Hospital was added in December 2022.

Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com