Maryland hospital emergency room wait times are among the longest in the United States, a study found. SysAid, an IT services company, recently released data from 2020-2021 on how long it takes to wait in the emergency room by state at Medicare and Medicaid service centers.
According to the report, Maryland had the longest average wait time at an emergency room (3 hours and 48 minutes). This was followed by Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York all around 1 and a half hours. Virginia was in the middle at 154 minutes (2 hours and 34 minutes), and North Dakota was the shortest at 104 minutes (1 hour and 44 minutes). DC was not included in this survey.
“Long emergency room wait times are a result of a shortage of medical staff and a shortage of primary care clinics,” said Bob Atlas, president of the Maryland Hospital Association. We are choosing a way to do it,” he said. He continued, “Many patients who visit the emergency room are not life-threatening. If possible, please use a primary clinic or urgent care.”