HARRISBURG, PA – Pennsylvania is tied for ninth place with California in a recent ranking of states with the longest average emergency room wait times. Patients in Pennsylvania’s emergency departments experience an average wait time of 3 hours before either being admitted to the hospital or discharged. The state’s rural communities face a particular challenge, contending with a shortage of physicians in rural hospitals.
Leading the list is Maryland, where the average wait time is 4 hours and 2 minutes. Rhode Island and Massachusetts trail closely behind, both reporting average wait times above 3 hours and 30 minutes. Delaware and New York complete the top five with wait times also exceeding the 3-hour mark.
Arizona holds the sixth position, notable for its low per-capita public health spending. New Jersey is in seventh place, facing a severe nursing shortage, and Connecticut ranks eighth despite having some of the country’s top hospitals. Vermont finishes the top 10 list with a 2-hour and 58-minute average wait time.
The data highlights significant healthcare challenges across the states, ranging from staffing shortages to limited funding for public health initiatives. A spokesperson from Injured in Florida weighed in on the list, stressing the value of such data for pinpointing states most in need of healthcare reform.
For Pennsylvania, the ninth-place tie shines a spotlight on the lack of medical resources in rural communities, emphasizing the need for targeted healthcare improvements.
Personal injury attorneys Injured in Florida analyzed hospital data to discover the average time patients spent in the emergency room across all 50 states.
