Emergency Room Wait Times

Need Urgent Care?

The average wait time in the ER is almost three hours. The average wait time in urgent care is under 20 minutes.

Patient Pathways through the ER

According to ER Wait Watcher after a patient arrives at the emergency room, they are typically seen by a doctor and then either sent home or admitted to the hospital and taken to a room. A small percentage of patients leave without being seen at all. The chart below shows on average how long each of these pathways take. Lower numbers are better, and all times refer to the average length of time people waited.

Notes: These "average times" refer to the median waiting time (the midpoint of all patients' waiting times). References to "doctor" indicate a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant.

Sources: Data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, last updated Dec. 18, 2016. Most data was collected between April 2015 and March 2016.