Becker's has compiled a list of hospitals and health systems with the shortest emergency department visit times for psychiatric and mental health patients using CMS' Timely and Effective Care-Hospital data.
The CDC tracks the median length of stay for ED patients as part of its "timely and effective care" measure set. The data was released July 31 and covers ED visits recorded from October 2022 through September 2023. Measures in this dataset apply to all adults and children treated in hospitals paid under either the inpatient or outpatient prospective payment systems. Learn more about the measures here.
Nationwide, the median ED visit time was 163 minutes, up from 162 minutes in the 12-month period ending Sept. 20, 2023, CMS data shows.
Most hospitals on this list are small community or critical access hospitals that may see lower annual ED volumes and patient acuities than facilities operating Level 1 or 2 trauma centers. CMS does not include hospitals' total ED volumes or case mix index in its dataset.
Below are 21 hospitals and health systems with the shortest and longest median ED visit times, along with the sample size.
Shortest
|
Median ED visit time, minutes (for 12-month period ending September 2023) |
Sample size, patient visits |
|
|
Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital (Los Angeles) |
40 |
71 |
|
Grafton (W.Va.) City Hospital |
54 |
13 |
|
Cordova (Alaska) Community Medical Center |
62 |
24 |
|
Griffin Hospital (Derby, Conn.) |
62 |
24 |
|
Towner County Medical Center (Cando, N.D.) |
63 |
11 |
|
Integris Community Hospital - Council Crossing (Oklahoma City, Okla.) |
65 |
11 |
|
St. Elizabeth Community Hospital (Red Bluff, Calif.) |
67 |
11 |
|
UCHealth Grandview Hospital (Colorado Springs, Colo.) |
69 |
15 |
|
Central Montana Medical Center (Lewistown, Mont.) |
70 |
14 |
|
Mercy Hospital Carthage (Mo.) |
72 |
11 |
|
Palacios (Texas) Community Medical Center |
72 |
13 |
Longest
|
Median ED visit time, minutes (for 12-month period ending September 2023) |
Sample size, patient visits |
|
|
HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast (Pasadena, Texas) |
3,499 |
21 |
|
HCA Houston Healthcare West |
2,371 |
33 |
|
Fairview Park Hospital (Dublin, Ga.) |
2,247 |
17 |
|
Wilson (N.C.) Medical Center |
2,046 |
18 |
|
Big South Fork Medical Center (Oneida, Tenn.) |
1,957 |
11 |
|
Novant Health Thomasville (N.C.) Medical Center |
1,300 |
16 |
|
Riverside (Calif.) Community Hospital |
1,278 |
12 |
|
HCA Houston Healthcare Clear Lake (Webster, Texas) |
1,254 |
25 |
|
Saint Anne's Hospital (Fall River, Mass.) |
1,238 |
32 |
|
WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital (Lebanon, Pa.) |
1,218 |
16 |