NJ spends ridiculously long time in E.R.s, here’s where we rank

NJ spends ridiculously long time in E.R.s, here’s where we rank

NJ hospital ER wait times (Canva)

We’ve all been there. The agonizing time spent in an emergency room.

I remember when my little boy was maybe 3 and he took a header off a rocking chair and split his chin wide open. I was at work and met him at the emergency room. The bleeding wouldn’t stop. He needed stitches. All they gave him was some gauze which was constantly soaking through.

Even so, it took hours for the little guy to receive simple stitches. The emergency room didn’t even seem terribly busy. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been in an emergency room at one hospital or another and looked down the hall to see doctors and nurses gathered at central desks and they seemed to be laughing and joking, not going over charts or dealing with patients. It has the look of small talk, and I can’t be the only one driven nuts by this.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services tracks time spent in emergency rooms and the latest federal data is an eye-opener. The national average for time spent in an emergency room is now two hours and 40 minutes. God help you if you’re north of that average and not south.

Then they broke it down state by state. Bad news New Jersey. The Garden State ranks seventh worst in the nation for time spent in an emergency room. Three hours and 14 minutes. Well above the national average.

Canva
loading...

Not that you’ll move to North Dakota over this, but that state has the shortest time spent at just under two hours.

If you’re thinking the more densely populated a state is the longer the wait will be your instinct is right. Maryland is even worse than New Jersey with four hours and 11 minutes. The worst in the nation? That’s the District of Columbia at five hours and 25 minutes.

So actually, New Jersey being a more densely populated state than others, we could be doing worse.

Adam Calaitzis
loading...

Here’s the full list of states and number of minutes spent on average in their emergency rooms.

  1. District of Columbia - 325
  1. Maryland - 251
  1. Rhode Island - 216
  1. Massachusetts - 214
  1. Delaware - 210
  1. New York - 202
  1. New Jersey - 194
  1. Pennsylvania - 185
  1. Connecticut - 185
  1. California - 183
  1. North Carolina - 182
  1. Vermont - 181
  1. Illinois - 178
  1. Maine - 177
  1. Arizona - 173
  1. Virginia - 169
  1. Michigan - 168
  1. South Carolina - 168
  1. New Hampshire - 166
  1. Florida - 166
  1. Oregon - 166
  1. New Mexico - 162
  1. Tennessee - 160
  1. Georgia - 159
  1. Missouri - 157
  1. Ohio - 157
  1. Washington - 155
  1. Kentucky - 151
  1. West Virginia - 150
  1. Alabama - 147
  1. Texas - 146
  1. Nevada - 145
  1. Idaho - 144
  1. Alaska - 142
  1. Colorado - 139
  1. Wisconsin - 139
  1. Indiana - 134
  1. Utah - 134
  1. Minnesota - 133
  1. Wyoming - 133
  1. Louisiana - 132
  1. Arkansas - 131
  1. Mississippi - 128
  1. Montana - 126
  1. Kansas - 122
  1. Hawaii - 120
  1. Oklahoma - 118
  1. Iowa - 117
  1. Nebraska - 114
  1. South Dakota - 114
  1. North Dakota - 108

LOOK: Grilling Mistakes That Send Millions To The Hospital

From gas explosions to internal bodily damage, these are common mistakes many make with their grills that may send you to the hospital.

Gallery Credit: Mike Brant

Latest additions to NJ DOT's 2024 collection of humorous safety messages

The NJ DOT continued to use a series of humorous seasonal safety messages on its' over 200 electronic signs around New Jersey.

Gallery Credit: Dan Alexander

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

Report a correction 👈

Filed Under: Hospital, medical, time
Categories: Deminski & Moore, Talking About ..., Ultimate New Jersey

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM