Maryland has the longest ER wait times in the country, study says
Maryland task force looks to investigate long ER wait times
Prince George's County Council is moving forward with a task force to investigate long emergency wait times. The goal is to work toward providing people who live in the area with the healthcare they deserve. FOX 5's Sierra Fox reports from Largo.
LARGO, Md. - Studies reveal Maryland has the longest emergency room wait times in the entire country, and one local county is working to fix the problem.
The Prince George’s County Council is moving forward with a task force to investigate long emergency room wait times.
The goal is to work towards providing people who live in the area with the healthcare they deserve.
Prince George’s County Council Chair Wala Blegay told FOX 5, "It is a complicated issue, and it is an issue you can’t solve with one thing."
Featured
Prince George's County takes action to improve excessive ER wait times
Alarming research reveals Maryland has the longest emergency room wait times in the entire country. Now, Prince George’s County is working to fix the problem.
Alarming research reveals the average ER wait time in Maryland is eight hours.
New data shows 75% of hospitals have improved their wait times since the summer.
However, they still rank way below other states.
"It is unfortunate that residents feel that they have to go to neighboring jurisdictions to be cared for. And one of the things that is frustrating for us is that we don’t want the idea to be that if you live in Prince George’s County you go to D.C. or Virginia or some other jurisdiction for care," Blegay said. "We really want people to take advantage of the care in Prince George’s County and only have to leave if we choose to."
Maryland has longest ER wait times in the nation: report
New data reveals the longest emergency room wait time is right here in the DMV.
To address the ongoing issues, the Prince George’s County Council will select 17 people from their staff, different community organizations, as well as hospital representatives, nurses, and an ER physician, to look into the problem and find solutions.
Currently, delays in getting help are being blamed on hospitals not having enough staff and not having enough beds, but there’s another reason as well.
"About one-third or a fourth of those coming into the emergency room are not emergencies. And that’s why some of the people waiting, they’re waiting because they’re not in an emergency status, and they have only staff to deal with the emergency."
Scott Bergman is an attorney at law in Bethesda who deals with hundreds of personal injury cases.
"It’s horrendous when they just need some basic care, and it can be the difference between a life and death situation," Bergman said. "It shouldn’t happen."
Bergman added that many clients come to him after experiencing long ER wait times.
"The problem is getting worse, and it’s going to continue to get worse if we don’t get some kind of resolution as to what we can do to increase our patient's ability to get service at the hospitals," he said.
A new council will start in December, so people will be chosen to be part of the task force at the start of 2024.
They hope to get to work by February.