“Please take a seat. We’ll be with you as soon as we can.” These words are all too common in emergency rooms throughout America today. When you’re in pain, the last thing you want to do is wait an extended amount of time to see a doctor. But why is there such an extreme wait in an ER? Is there anywhere you can go to avoid the wait? We have the answers for you, and current wait times at the Neighbors Emergency Centers near you!
Why are wait times so long?
High-severity patients
In most hospital ERs patients are triaged as they arrive based on the severity of their medical situation. Those with more life threatening injuries are seen by nurses and doctors first, followed by those with more mild conditions. This is why if you have a broken bone and come into the emergency room, you may not be seen for hours if multiple high-severity patients come in after you. Someone with chest pain is likely to bump you down the waiting list and increase your wait time.
Overcrowding
As reported by the Centers for Disease control, the average emergency room visit is about 2 hours. This includes an initial er wait time of 30 minutes, followed by treatment, which usually takes about 90 minutes. Over the years the volume of amount of people waiting continues to increase. Overcrowding continues to be an issue in hospital-based ERs.
How has Neighbors solved these problems?
Neighbors Emergency Center is a freestanding emergency center. We offer 24-hour emergency services to patients at the same level of care as hospital-based emergency rooms. However, because we operate off-site from hospitals we can provide access and wait times that are much more convenient for our patients.
The average wait time at a traditional hospital emergency room is 52 minutes
The average wait time at Neighbors Emergency Center is between 5 and 10 minutes!
Neighbors Emergency Center has several locations throughout Texas. We are right around the corner from you, and you can see your wait time for any location online now!