Need to go to the ER in Arizona? Here’s how long you’ll be there

Arizona has some of the longest emergency room stays in the country, according to a study. Bring a book.

August 5, 2024

Be prepared to stay more than three hours before being discharged at emergency rooms in Arizona. rawpixel/CC0 1.0

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Ever spent what feels like forever in a hospital emergency department? You’re not alone. Nationwide, ER stays for patients last hours and hours.

It’s particularly bad in Arizona. Patients in the Grand Canyon State sit in the ER for more than an hour longer than the a median time of an ER stay nationwide. In fact, ER stays in Arizona are the sixth-longest in the U.S., according to a study by medical security company Blue Goat Cyber.

When you arrive at an Arizona emergency room, you can expect a long stay — the median ER visit here lasts 3 hours and 18 minutes. So, bring a book or watch the entirety of “Oppenheimer.” Tell family members to fly to Phoenix from Dallas — they may arrive in time to pick you up.

At least you won't be having a medical emergency In Maryland, which has the longest median ER stay in the nation: a whopping 4 hours and 9 minutes. That’s more than two hours longer than the median countrywide stay of 2 hours and 5 minutes. Mississippi has the shortest median ER stay in the country at 1 hour and 47 minutes.

Blue Goat Cyber’s study was based on April data collected from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The study calculated ER visit times based on how long patients waited before being discharged.

Those long waits stem from a variety of issues.

According to medical studies and local reporting, hospitals nationwide and in Arizona are overcrowded and unable to keep up with high levels of demand. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, demand has only increased.

That’s caused a mental health crisis among medical professionals. Primary care doctors are overwhelmed, prompting potential patients to seek care in emergency rooms rather than wait for an appointment.

Inside the hospitals themselves, workers are dealing with widespread burnout and a nursing shortage. An analysis by the National Center for Health Workforce predicted that Arizona will be short nearly 30,000 registered nurses by 2025.

Here are the top 10 states with the longest average ER wait times.

1. Maryland — 4 hours, 9 minutes
2. Pennsylvania — 3 hours, 37 minutes
3. Rhode Island — 3 hours, 36 minutes
4. Massachusetts — 3 hours, 34 minutes
5. Missouri — 3 hours, 31 minutes
6. Arizona — 3 hours, 18 minutes
7. Oregon — 3 hours, 16 minutes
8. New Jersey — 3 hours, 14 minutes
9. Delaware — 3 hours, 12 minutes
10. North Carolina — 3 hours, 10 minutes

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