Chinook Regional Hospital

Lethbridge, AB · Hospital website ↗

Open 24/7☎ (403) 388-6111

30 min

current emergency wait

High confidence, official hospital feed, updated 12 min ago

vs its typical now

−14 min

usually about 44 min at this hour

Alberta rank

#1 / 23

among ERs reporting now, shortest first

calmest hour

9am

typically 45 min

Quieter than usual for this time of day (~19th percentile of this ER's own posted-wait history at this hour, based on 296 past readings)

Directions ↗

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Compare nearby ERs on the map →

Call 911 for an ambulance if you need one.

Weather now

-5°C

Air quality (AQHI)

When this ER is busiest

Based on our archive, this emergency room is typically busiest around 10pm and on Wednesdays, and quietest around 9am and on Sundays.

1h2hcalmest

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Over the last month its posted wait has typically been about 1h 14m, ranging roughly 30 min to 2h 26m.

For a non-urgent visit, a calmer hour usually means a shorter wait; in an emergency, go to the nearest ER no matter the time.

Busiest hours, by day

Average emergency wait at Chinook Regional Hospital by day of week and hour of day, in minutes
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Sun	68	84	92	74	54	54	55	54	41	36	40	37	43	61	63	56	61	66	72	81	84	85	97	90
Mon	68	67	69	62	52	51	49	46	44	44	52	63	76	90	95	96	114	121	132	143	133	132	134	133
Tue	114	112	104	80	71	62	50	50	46	51	59	58	72	85	84	88	100	107	110	117	114	118	114	105
Wed	91	96	98	86	73	61	48	56	48	48	55	58	70	84	87	87	97	105	119	133	125	122	128	121
Thu	108	124	107	97	83	71	70	67	56	50	50	49	54	70	74	77	85	92	99	107	102	118	117	106
Fri	93	100	98	86	80	66	58	58	50	51	53	49	60	77	79	82	94	101	102	109	94	98	113	121
Sat	97	109	118	95	73	64	57	51	39	36	39	34	43	53	57	55	57	60	57	65	67	76	93	89

For a non-urgent visit, a calmer hour usually means a shorter wait; in an emergency, go to the nearest ER no matter the time.

Next 12 hours

The wait is about 30 min right now. If this ER follows its usual pattern, expect it to climb toward roughly 1h 38m over the next 12 hours.

A projection from this ER's own history, not a guarantee. Live conditions can change quickly.

Trends for this ER

See interactive trends, wait history, weather, volume, compare →

How reliable is this number?

Over the last 49.0 h, this ER's posted wait refreshes about every 14 min, has ranged 30 min–2h 5m, current value held 5h 59m.

Measured from our own archive of what this hospital posted. See how we check accuracy

Getting there

1 parking area(s) mapped nearby, the nearest about 150 m from the ER.
Nearest pharmacy: Petra Pharmacy, about 677 m away.

Logistics from OpenStreetMap, to help plan your arrival, not medical guidance. In an emergency, go straight to the nearest entrance and ask staff.

Time to be seen (CIHI)

Officially, 9 in 10 patients here were seen by a physician within ~4h 48m.

For comparison, the wait this ER has posted runs a median of ~54 min over the stretch we've tracked it, the typical live estimate, where the CIHI figure above is the long-wait tail (the slowest 1 in 10).

This hospital, 90th-percentile time from triage to first physician assessment. CIHI, fiscal 2024–2025. Source ↗

If you're admitted (CIHI)

If you're admitted to hospital from here, the wait for an inpatient bed can be long: 9 in 10 admitted patients spent under ~20h 54m in the ED.

Most ER visits end in discharge and are far shorter, this is the admitted-patient (boarding) figure. This hospital, 90th-percentile total ED time for admitted patients. CIHI, fiscal 2024–2025. Source ↗

Recent closures

Wait times unavailable — 1h 37m on 2026-10-08
Wait times unavailable — 53 min on 2026-09-10

Typical in Alberta (CIHI)

half of discharged ED visits finish within ~2.4–4.1 h; 9 in 10 within ~10.2 h.

Province-wide total time in the ED (arrival to leaving), Apr–Sep 2025, a ballpark where there's no live wait, not this hospital's posted number.

Nearby emergency rooms

Raymond Health Centre

Raymond · 27 km away

—

Fort Macleod Health Centre

Fort Macleod · 42 km away

Cardston Health Centre

Cardston · 64 km away

—

Claresholm General Hospital

Claresholm · 66 km away

—

Frequently asked questions

How long is the ER wait at Chinook Regional Hospital right now?

As of the latest update, about 30 min to be seen at Chinook Regional Hospital. The figure refreshes roughly every 10 minutes and is the hospital's own live estimate, not a guarantee: an emergency room always treats the sickest patients first, so your own wait can differ.

What does the wait time actually measure?

Usually the estimated time to be seen by a physician, but Canada has no common definition. Quebec publishes stretcher occupancy, New Brunswick length of stay, and others an estimate of the wait to be seen, so we keep each province in its own units and never blend them into one misleading number.

How accurate are these ER wait times?

They are the live estimates each hospital publishes, refreshed about every 10 minutes; we stamp every reading with the moment the hospital said it was current and flag a feed that goes stale. They are estimates, not guarantees, an emergency room always sees the sickest patients first, so your own wait can differ. We also backtest our forecasts against what hospitals post next; see the accuracy page.

Should I go to the ER, or somewhere else?

For anything life-threatening, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room now, never wait for a shorter posted time. For a non-urgent problem, calling 811 (free 24/7 health advice), a walk-in clinic, or a pharmacist is often faster. When in doubt, get checked.

Add this wait time to your site

Free to embed, a live wait-time badge for this ER that updates automatically. Copy the code:

<iframe src="https://ercompass.ca/embed/hospital/chinook-regional-hospital" width="340" height="150" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Chinook Regional Hospital"></iframe>
<a href="https://ercompass.ca/hospital/chinook-regional-hospital">Live ER wait at Chinook Regional Hospital, ER Compass</a>

	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Sun	68	84	92	74	54	54	55	54	41	36	40	37	43	61	63	56	61	66	72	81	84	85	97	90
Mon	68	67	69	62	52	51	49	46	44	44	52	63	76	90	95	96	114	121	132	143	133	132	134	133
Tue	114	112	104	80	71	62	50	50	46	51	59	58	72	85	84	88	100	107	110	117	114	118	114	105
Wed	91	96	98	86	73	61	48	56	48	48	55	58	70	84	87	87	97	105	119	133	125	122	128	121
Thu	108	124	107	97	83	71	70	67	56	50	50	49	54	70	74	77	85	92	99	107	102	118	117	106
Fri	93	100	98	86	80	66	58	58	50	51	53	49	60	77	79	82	94	101	102	109	94	98	113	121
Sat	97	109	118	95	73	64	57	51	39	36	39	34	43	53	57	55	57	60	57	65	67	76	93	89

	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Sun	68	84	92	74	54	54	55	54	41	36	40	37	43	61	63	56	61	66	72	81	84	85	97	90
Mon	68	67	69	62	52	51	49	46	44	44	52	63	76	90	95	96	114	121	132	143	133	132	134	133
Tue	114	112	104	80	71	62	50	50	46	51	59	58	72	85	84	88	100	107	110	117	114	118	114	105
Wed	91	96	98	86	73	61	48	56	48	48	55	58	70	84	87	87	97	105	119	133	125	122	128	121
Thu	108	124	107	97	83	71	70	67	56	50	50	49	54	70	74	77	85	92	99	107	102	118	117	106
Fri	93	100	98	86	80	66	58	58	50	51	53	49	60	77	79	82	94	101	102	109	94	98	113	121
Sat	97	109	118	95	73	64	57	51	39	36	39	34	43	53	57	55	57	60	57	65	67	76	93	89

	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Sun	68	84	92	74	54	54	55	54	41	36	40	37	43	61	63	56	61	66	72	81	84	85	97	90
Mon	68	67	69	62	52	51	49	46	44	44	52	63	76	90	95	96	114	121	132	143	133	132	134	133
Tue	114	112	104	80	71	62	50	50	46	51	59	58	72	85	84	88	100	107	110	117	114	118	114	105
Wed	91	96	98	86	73	61	48	56	48	48	55	58	70	84	87	87	97	105	119	133	125	122	128	121
Thu	108	124	107	97	83	71	70	67	56	50	50	49	54	70	74	77	85	92	99	107	102	118	117	106
Fri	93	100	98	86	80	66	58	58	50	51	53	49	60	77	79	82	94	101	102	109	94	98	113	121
Sat	97	109	118	95	73	64	57	51	39	36	39	34	43	53	57	55	57	60	57	65	67	76	93	89