Total Hourly Number of Emergency Visits for Patients Residing in the Local Geographic Area For Triage Levels Semi-Urgent(4) and Non-Urgent(5) Combined, by Weekday/Weekend, Fiscal Year 2023/2024

Figure 8.2 provides a time profile of emergency visits by day of the week for the 2023/2024 fiscal year. Data covers semi-urgent (CTAS 4) and non-urgent (CTAS 5) triage levels across 132 local geographic areas in Alberta, aggregated by weekday/weekend and hour.

Use Cases

• Model hourly visit patterns segmented by weekday/weekend status to forecast emergency department staffing needs for CTAS 4/5 patients.
• Analyze the distribution of semi-urgent and non-urgent visits across 132 local geographic areas to identify regions with higher low-acuity demand.
• Build time series visualizations of emergency visit volumes by hour and day type for operational reporting within Alberta Health Services.

Strengths

• Data is aggregated across 132 distinct local geographic areas defined by Alberta Health.
• Focuses on two specific triage levels (CTAS 4 and 5) as defined by the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale.
• Temporal coverage is clearly defined for the 2023/2024 fiscal year.

Limitations

• Sample data and row/column counts are unavailable, limiting assessment of granularity and volume.
• Data excludes the three most urgent triage levels (CTAS 1-3), providing an incomplete picture of total emergency department activity.
• The underlying report was published in August 2022, suggesting the 2023/2024 data may be a projection or later addition, not real-time records.

Provenance

Source

Government of Alberta, part of the 'Alberta Health Primary Health Care - Community Profiles' report.

Collection Method

Administrative data from Alberta Health (AH) and Alberta Health Services (AHS) based on census boundaries.

Time Range

Fiscal year 2023/2024.

Freshness

Dataset record last updated March 2026, but data covers fiscal year 2023/2024.

Geography

Alberta, Canada, segmented into 132 local geographic areas (e.g., Lacombe, Red Deer, Calgary West Bow).