Recently a local television station aired a report about the waiting times in eight area hospitals in the Houston area. The title of the report was “How long could you wait in a Houston-area emergency room?” and it was produced by Local 2 KPRC’s Bill Spencer.
The report stated that there are 65 hospitals in the Houston area for approximately 6 million people. That is one hospital for every 92,000 people. Below are the wait times reported in the investigation.
14 hours – Ben Taub Hospital
10 hours – Harris County LBJ Hospital
4.5 hours – Texas Children’s Hospital (one of the interviewees had a 10 hour wait with a sick child at this hospital)
4.5 hours – Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center
2.0 hours – Memorial Hermann Memorial City
1 hour and 50 minutes – Memorial Hermann Northwest
1 hour – Memorial Hermann Southwest
10 minutes – East Houston Regional Medical Center
The ER doctor who was interviewed stated that the busiest days in an emergency room are Sunday and Monday. She also said the busiest nights are the weekend nights.
The reporter, Mr. Spencer, concludes his report by stating that the overall ER wait times of today (2013) compared to a similar investigation six years ago shows no improvement. He also reported that the prices at free standing ER centers are the same as hospital prices but that the wait times are shorter.
At Bellaire ER the average wait time is the time it takes the patient to complete his or her medical history form – about 5 minutes. You can view the video mentioned in this article by clicking the following link: How long could you wait in Houston-area emergency room?