Massachusetts emergency room wait times rank among the longest in the U.S.

Local News

Patients spend an average of 189 minutes — more than three hours — in the emergency department, and longer stays have become more common. What was your experience like?

By Annie Jonas

February 12, 2026 | 1:29 PM

2 minutes to read

If you find yourself in need of emergency care in Massachusetts, it could take a while.

The Bay State ranks No. 3 in the U.S. for longest average time patients spend in the emergency department, according to World Population Review. Patients here spend an average of 189 minutes — more than three hours — in the ER before leaving the hospital. Only Maryland (228 minutes) and Delaware (195 minutes) report longer average delays.

It’s a striking statistic for a state regularly ranked among the best in the country for hospitals.

What’s behind the delays? In short: capacity and staffing.

An analysis from health insurance comparison site Compare the Market found that the U.S. has among the fewest hospitals per capita in the world, a factor that likely contributes to overcrowded emergency departments and longer wait times.

Even some of the largest and most profitable hospitals in Boston report extended ER stays. A Boston Globe analysis found that at hospitals like Mass General and Brigham and Women’s, patients wait 12 to 24 hours, and sometimes longer, to receive care.

The problem has worsened in recent years. The share of Massachusetts emergency department visits lasting 12 hours or more has risen from 6.6% in 2020 to 9.9% in the first five months of 2024, according to the state’s Health Policy Commission.

For patients experiencing mental health crises, the numbers are even more stark. Nearly 39% of emergency department visits in 2024 were for behavioral health, up from 31.3% in 2020. 

Health care leaders say workforce shortages are a major factor. According to the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, vacancies — particularly in behavioral health, community health, and other technician positions — continue to strain the system and patients.

“Workforce vacancies lead to especially painful ripple effects when it comes to the 24/7 delivery of healthcare,” the association said in a November 2025 workforce report. “Vacancies limit the number of beds available to patients in need, drive up wait times, worsen the strains on existing caregivers, and ultimately increase overall costs for the system at large.”

For patients, those ripple effects aren’t abstract. They mean longer hours in crowded waiting rooms, delayed treatment, and emergency departments that become a holding area for a health system stretched beyond capacity.

We want to know: Have you or a loved one experienced a long wait time at a Massachusetts emergency room? How long did you wait? What was the reason for your visit? How did the delay affect your care? Share with us in the form below or e-mail us at [email protected]. Your response may be featured in an upcoming article.

Annie Jonas is a Community writer at Boston.com. She was previously a local editor at Patch and a freelancer at the Financial Times.