ER Wait Times

Please Note:

Our ER wait times to see a first provider are updated every 15 minutes. At all three MWHC Emergency Departments, a first provider is either a physician, a physician's assistant or a nurse practitioner.

If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 911 immediately.

How Are Emergency Room Wait Times Calculated?

Mary Washington Healthcare (MWHC) Emergency Room wait times are based on the average length of time from registration to seeing a physician, a physician's assistant, or a nurse practitioner.

At MWHC, we are committed to reducing wait times to be seen by a first provider to continue to improve the quality of care received in our emergency rooms.

The average* is calculated using the actual wait times from the past four hours and is updated every 15 minutes. These times are an average, thus not guaranteed upon arrival. Many factors can affect our wait times – such as patients with trauma, life-threatening injuries or illness, or arriving by ambulance. Patients with a life-threatening condition will always be seen before those with less-serious illnesses or injuries.

If you need assistance in assessing your symptoms before going to an emergency room, call our nurse line at 540.741.1000, 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., seven days a week (Virginia residents only). Our nurses can help you understand your or your family member’s symptoms and recommend the appropriate course of action.

*There are three types of averages – mean, median, and mode. Mean average, which is the most well-known average, is the sum of all wait time divided by the total number of wait times. The median average is the number in the middle of the list if all the wait times were in numerical order. The mode average is the wait time that shows up most frequently. Mary Washington Healthcare believes that the mode average most accurately sets patient’s wait time expectations.

Call 911 immediately and seek emergency services if you have any of these symptoms:

• Loss of movement in the arms or legs, numbness, tingling, confusion, dizziness, double vision, slurred speech, trouble finding words, or weakness in one side of the body or face.
• Chest pain or discomfort, pain in the arm, jaw or neck, breaking out in a cold sweat, extreme weakness, nausea, vomiting, feeling faint, or short of breath
• Tenderness and pain in the back of the lower leg or chest, shortness of breath or coughing up blood.
• Blood in the urine without pain.
• Asthma symptoms that do not improve or worsen.
• Depression or suicidal thoughts.