Patients arriving at emergency rooms in Maryland can wait eight hours on average — and that’s an improvement from the previous average of 11 hours.
The data from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission shows that despite the downward trend, wait times in the state’s emergency rooms are still the worst in the country.
The data calculates wait times from point of arrival to admission. And the report comes as the state’s 40 hospitals work to reduce those wait times.
According to the data, the longest waits were logged at the University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton, where waiting times could extend to 24 hours.
While nearly three-quarters of Maryland’s hospitals noted reductions in wait times, Adventist White Oak actually saw the time spent waiting grow, putting the wait times there in the 16-hour range.
Wait times across the state ranged from 3.5 hours to the 24-hour mark. Holy Cross Germantown and Adventist Shady Grove recorded wait times in the six-hour range, while Suburban, MedStar Montgomery and Holy Cross had wait times that ran between seven and just over eight hours.
The report included goals set by the individual hospitals to cut wait times and reduce the incidence of cases where patients leave without being seen.
WYPR first reported the results of the report.
Last month, a new Maryland law went into effect to speed up the process that would allow qualified immigrants to apply for health care positions. Part of the push to pass the bill championed by Del. Lesley Lopez and state Sen. Cheryl Kagan included the hope that by filling needed positions, Maryland’s long wait times in emergency rooms could be reduced.
