How long you'll wait for ER visits at Philly, Pennsylvania hospitals
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Pennsylvania is a national leader in long emergency room wait times.
- Patients are spending a median of more than 3 hours in the ED across the state — and even longer in many Philadelphia hospitals, per new federal data.
Why it matters: It goes beyond an inconvenience.
- Long waits to see a clinician have been linked to worse patient experiences, health risks and higher costs.
State of play: The median emergency department visit in the state lasted 186 minutes, or just over three hours, during the year ending Sept. 30, 2025, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- That's 24 minutes longer than the nationwide average (162 minutes).
Ranked: Pennsylvania is 43rd among states and Washington, D.C., for median ER visit lengths.
Between the lines: Visits have been getting longer in nearly half of U.S. states, per federal data.
- That includes Pennsylvania, where median visit lengths rose four minutes from the previous 12-month period.
Zoom in: Some hospitals in Philly proper reported much longer median wait times, with several surpassing the four-hour mark, per CMS data. That includes:
- Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (West Philly): 326 minutes
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: 290 minutes
- Penn Hospital (Washington Square): 280 minutes
- Jefferson Einstein (North Philly): 268 minutes
- Temple University Hospital (North Philly): 243 minutes
- Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Center City): 236 minutes
Meanwhile, Roxborough Memorial Hospital had one of the lowest wait times in Philly proper (186 minutes).
- And Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's main site in University City had a median wait time of 19 minutes.
How it works: The measure tracks full ER visits, from arrival through discharge, for patients who went home.
- It excludes those who were admitted, transferred or left against medical advice.
Friction points: Overcrowding, which a majority of U.S. emergency departments report having, can lead to longer wait times.
- Another bottleneck: A lack of inpatient beds, which can increase wait times for those in need of inpatient care.
What we're watching: New insurance eligibility rules could push more patients to delay care until their conditions become emergencies, further straining emergency departments.