Last time I went to the ER was because I slipped on the stairs, dropped a coffee mug, bashed my elbow into the shards of shattered mug (RIP beloved TARDIS mug) and needed to get the pieces removed, elbow stitched up, and an X-ray to make sure nothing was left inside.
Total time at the ER from parking in the parking lot to getting in the car to drive home was about 3 hours. I think the co-pay was $500.
That’s a suburban hospital on a relatively quiet evening. However, I’ve had other, similar experiences at that ER, and I don’t think I’ve ever had an unreasonable wait time there. They used to guarantee that you’d see a doctor in 30 minutes, but I think they abandoned that policy when they were absorbed into a larger health system.
If I was headed to a major, inner-city hospital, I would expect to be in the waiting area for a long time. I’ve definitely had ER visits that were 12 hours from start to finish at the downtown ER.
Fun trick if you don’t want to hang around in the waiting area:
Bring an obviously pregnant woman along. I’ve had the ER rush me along when my pregnant wife took me there. They are so conditioned to move pregnant women out of the ER that they’ll rush you through even if the pregnant woman is just your ride home (kidding kind of).
They are so conditioned to move pregnant women out of the ER that they’ll rush you through even if the pregnant woman is just your ride home (kidding kind of).
That’s probably for the best. Pregnant women (and their fetuses) are at much greater risk if they should catch a communicable disease and you never know what might be circulating in that waiting area.
Last time I went to the ER was because I slipped on the stairs, dropped a coffee mug, bashed my elbow into the shards of shattered mug (RIP beloved TARDIS mug) and needed to get the pieces removed, elbow stitched up, and an X-ray to make sure nothing was left inside.
Total time at the ER from parking in the parking lot to getting in the car to drive home was about 3 hours. I think the co-pay was $500.
That’s a suburban hospital on a relatively quiet evening. However, I’ve had other, similar experiences at that ER, and I don’t think I’ve ever had an unreasonable wait time there. They used to guarantee that you’d see a doctor in 30 minutes, but I think they abandoned that policy when they were absorbed into a larger health system.
If I was headed to a major, inner-city hospital, I would expect to be in the waiting area for a long time. I’ve definitely had ER visits that were 12 hours from start to finish at the downtown ER.
Fun trick if you don’t want to hang around in the waiting area:
Bring an obviously pregnant woman along. I’ve had the ER rush me along when my pregnant wife took me there. They are so conditioned to move pregnant women out of the ER that they’ll rush you through even if the pregnant woman is just your ride home (kidding kind of).
That’s probably for the best. Pregnant women (and their fetuses) are at much greater risk if they should catch a communicable disease and you never know what might be circulating in that waiting area.