Black car in London · 2026-09-21 · 8-minute read
Hospital wait times in London, Ontario - the emergency waits London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's publish on their sites, the clinic days that run hours past the appointment time, the four-hour infusion, the surgery whose discharge time nobody knows at 7 a.m. - are the reason a chauffeured hospital journey is booked differently from an airport run: LondonLimo.net books the return for an approximate time and holds it open for a text from inside, or books the day by the hour so that the chauffeur waits as long as the clinic takes, at $95-115 an hour for a sedan with a three-hour minimum. Thirty minutes at a hospital door are inside every fixed-rate journey, a return moved by text costs nothing, and the hospitals page has the service; this article is the waiting in detail, for the patient and the family who cannot predict the day.
Where the wait times are published
LHSC publishes its emergency department wait estimates for University and Victoria Hospitals on its site, and the province's health-system pages publish surgical and diagnostic wait times by hospital and procedure; the clinics' own delays on the day are not published anywhere and are the reason a 10 a.m. appointment can end at 2. The desk reads the emergency estimates when a family books a run to the emergency entrance, and tells the family honestly what the hours look like.
| The hospital day | How to book it | What it costs, sedan | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| A clinic appointment of unknown length | Two fixed rates, the return held open for a text | $40-55 each way, in-city | The return moves with the clinic at no fee |
| Three or more stops: clinic, pharmacy, a second clinic, home | By the hour | $95-115/h, 3 h minimum | Cheaper than four fixed rates; the chauffeur waits throughout |
| A day-surgery discharge at an unknown hour | A drop, then a return on the nurse's call | $40-55 each way | The desk holds the return open |
| A radiation series, daily for weeks | Standing fixed rates on a household account | $40-55 each way, daily | The same chauffeur; a one-minute booking each day |
| A family's week between the hotel and the ward | Standing fixed rates on a household account | $40-55 per journey | The hotel five minutes away; the runs at the family's hours |
| An out-of-town patient's clinic day | The destination's rate, the chauffeur waiting by the hour | e.g. Sarnia $195-235 each way, or hourly | The wait is priced honestly before the day |
LondonLimo.net planning ranges before HST.
The return that moves
A fixed-rate return is booked for the clinic's estimated end and the desk holds it open; the patient or the companion texts from inside when the appointment is finishing, the chauffeur is at the door within four minutes from the garage, and the change costs nothing however many times it moves. A clinic that runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. is a return moved twice by text and a chauffeur who spent the four hours on other bookings; the rates page sets out the waiting rules.
The hourly booking that waits
A day with the clinic, the pharmacy, a second appointment at another campus and the grocery stop on the way home is an hourly booking - $95-115 an hour for a sedan, $115-135 for an SUV, a three-hour minimum - with the chauffeur waiting through each stop and the car at the door the moment the patient appears; the hourly page explains when the hourly booking beats a string of fixed rates, which is at three stops or more.
The thirty minutes at the door
Every fixed-rate journey includes thirty minutes at a hospital address after the booked time, so that a patient who is slow to the door or a family finding the right entrance is not charged; beyond thirty minutes on a fixed-rate booking the waiting is billed in half-hour increments at the hourly rate, which is why a long clinic is booked as a moved return or by the hour rather than as a chauffeur idling at a fixed rate.
The emergency entrance, honestly
A family taking a relative to the emergency department at University or Victoria Hospital books a drop at the emergency entrance and no return, because the wait may be six hours or an admission; the family texts the desk when the relative is discharged or when a visitor needs collecting, and a fixed-rate car comes then. We are not an ambulance and do not carry anyone who needs care in transit; the hospitals page states the line.
The family's week
A patient admitted for a week or a month has a family staying at a hotel five minutes from the ward - the Wellington Road cluster for Victoria, the north cluster for University - and travelling between the hotel, the ward, the pharmacy, the airport for relatives flying in and home again; a household account holds the week's runs at fixed in-city rates, and the hotels near the hospitals article has the clusters.
The out-of-town clinic day
A patient from Sarnia, Chatham or Stratford with a London clinic appointment of unknown length books the destination's fixed rate each way with the return held open, or the day by the hour with the chauffeur waiting in the garage; the desk says which is cheaper for the appointment described, and the out-of-town patients article works the arithmetic.
What the chauffeur does while waiting
Waits in the garage or the lot with the phone on; moves the car to the door in four minutes on a text; does not ask about the appointment; helps as much as is wanted at the door and no more; and, on an hourly booking, runs the pharmacy or the grocery errand for a patient who asks while the patient rests in the car. The chauffeurs page describes the conduct standard.
Three hospital days, as they went
A cardiology clinic at University Hospital, booked for 10 a.m. The clinic ran to 1:40; the return moved twice by text; the chauffeur was at the Windermere doors at 1:45; two fixed rates.
An infusion day at Victoria's cancer centre, with the pharmacy and a second clinic. By the hour from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; the chauffeur waited through the infusion, ran the prescription while the patient rested, and drove to the second clinic; seven and a half hours.
A Sarnia patient's neurology appointment, unknown length. Two fixed rates at $215 each with the return held open; the appointment ran ninety minutes late and the chauffeur, who had waited at a Windermere Road coffee shop, was at the door when the text came.
Booking it
The reservation engine prices the fixed-rate journeys; the desk books the hourly day and holds a return open; the hospitals page has the entrances and the FAQ the waiting rules.
Three questions the desk is asked about waiting
If I book by the hour and the appointment is short, do I pay the minimum? Yes - three hours for a sedan; which is why a single short appointment is two fixed rates with the return held open, and the day by the hour is for the day with several stops. Can the chauffeur leave and come back? On a fixed-rate booking, that is exactly what happens - the chauffeur takes other bookings in the city and returns on the text; on an hourly booking the chauffeur stays. Does the desk know when my clinic will finish? No - nobody does; the desk knows the clinic's pattern and holds the return open for the text.
The province's published waits, and what they mean for the car
Ontario publishes surgical and diagnostic wait times by hospital and procedure, and LHSC its emergency estimates; neither tells a patient how long Tuesday's clinic will run, and the chauffeured car's answer is the held-open return rather than a prediction. The hospitals page has the service and the LHSC site the estimates.
The infusion day, worked through
An eight-hour infusion at Victoria's cancer centre with a prescription to fill and a second clinic across the campus: booked by the hour at $95-115 for a sedan, the chauffeur drives to the cancer centre's loop at 8, waits in the lot, runs the prescription at noon while the patient rests, moves the car to the second clinic's loop at 3, and drives home at 4:30; eight and a half hours, and the hourly page explains why the day beats six fixed rates.
The clinic that runs late, worked through
A 10 a.m. neurology clinic at University Hospital that runs to 1:40: the fixed-rate drop at 9:40; the return booked for 11:30 and held open; texts at 11:15 and 12:50 moving it; the chauffeur, who took two other bookings in Masonville, at the Windermere doors at 1:45; two fixed rates at $48 and nothing for the moves. The entrances article has the doors.
The emergency visit, worked through
A family taking a father with chest pain to University Hospital's emergency entrance at 2 a.m.: a fixed-rate drop with the early-hours premium; no return booked; a text to the desk at 9 a.m. when he is admitted and the family wants to go home to sleep; a fixed-rate car at 9:20. We are not an ambulance, and the hospitals page states the line; for chest pain at 2 a.m. the family should call 911 first.
The family's week, worked through
A Sarnia family with a mother in Victoria's cardiac unit for ten days: a Wellington Road suites hotel at the hospital rate through the travel desk; a household account with a sedan to the main entrance at 9 and back at 6 each day, the pharmacy on Wednesday, a daughter met at YXU on Saturday; the hotels near the hospitals article has the cluster.
Booking checklist for a hospital day
The campus and the entrance; the appointment time; the pickup address; the clinic's likely length, honestly; whether the day has other stops; the companion; a walker or a wheelchair; the account or the card; and a phone number for the texts from inside. The reservation engine takes the fixed rates and the desk the hourly day.
The honest summary
Two fixed rates with the return held open for one appointment; the day by the hour for three stops or more; a drop and no return for the emergency department; a household account for the series and the family's week. The rates page has the figures and the waiting rules in one place.
Booking it, in one line
The reservation engine takes the fixed-rate drop and the approximate return; the desk books the hourly day, holds the return open, and answers a family's question about which is cheaper for the appointment described.
