facebook tracking Minnesota ER Wait Times 2026: Shortest & Longest of 120 Hospitals

Minnesota ER wait times by hospital

In an emergency, call 911. These are yearly medians, not live wait times. Don't pick an ER from this list when someone needs help now.

According to HospitalsInEachState.com's analysis of the July 2026 CMS release, the median emergency room visit in Minnesota for patients treated and sent home lasts 2 hr 6 min, 22 min shorter than the US median of 2 hr 28 min, across 120 reporting hospitals. Minnesota ranks #12 of 50 states in the HospitalsInEachState.com State ER Wait Rankings, where #1 has the shortest visits. The shortest is at Mille Lacs Health System in Onamia (42 min) and the longest at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital (4 hr 17 min). 48 of 120 come in under two hours and 2 take four hours or more; 90 (75%) are faster than the US median.

CMS data published July 2026120 hospitals12-month medians
Minnesota median 2 hr 6 min −22 min vs US US median is 2 hr 28 min
Shortest 42 min Mille Lacs Health System, Onamia
Longest 4 hr 17 min Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, Saint Louis Park
Under 2 hours 48 ERs 2 take 4 hours or more
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Report: Maryland has the longest ER visits: 4 hr 1 min at the typical hospital (Oct 25, 2026)

Fastest to slowest ER wait times in Minnesota, by hospital

Times are for patients treated and sent home, not admitted. The bar shows each ER against the slowest in the state; the tick marks the Minnesota median.

How to read this list

Each time is the median for a full year, so half of visits were shorter and half longer. Busy hospitals treat sicker patients, so a longer time is not by itself a mark against a hospital. "Left before seen" is the share of patients who walked out before a clinician saw them. How this measure works.

Showing the 25 shortest of 120 hospitals

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ER wait times in Minnesota's largest cities

Median visit time across the hospitals listed in each city. Open a city's page, or filter the list above.

CityERsMedianShortest in the city
Minneapolis 3 3 hr 3 min University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview · 2 hr 54 min
Rochester 2 3 hr 10 min Olmsted Medical Center · 2 hr 15 min
St Paul 2 3 hr 26 min United Hospital · 3 hr 2 min
Duluth 2 3 hr 34 min Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center · 3 hr 21 min

Questions about Minnesota ER wait times

Which Minnesota ER has the shortest wait?

Mille Lacs Health System in Onamia, with a median visit of 42 min. Cass Lake Indian Health Services Hospital in Cass Lake is next at 1 hr 8 min.

Which Minnesota ER has the longest wait?

Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, at 4 hr 17 min. The busiest emergency departments tend to have the longest visits because they treat more patients and more complex cases.

How long is the average ER visit in Minnesota?

The median is 2 hr 6 min, 22 min shorter than the US median of 2 hr 28 min. 48 of 120 Minnesota ERs come in under two hours and 2 take four hours or more.

Are these live wait times?

No. They are 12-month medians for patients who were treated and sent home, published by CMS. They show what is typical, not what is happening tonight. In an emergency, call 911.

Why are big hospitals slower?

Low-volume Minnesota ERs have a median visit of 2 hr. High and very-high-volume ERs come in at 3 hr 12 min. Large hospitals see more patients and sicker ones, and many are trauma centers.

ER wait times in neighboring states

Cite this data

Journalists, researchers and site owners are welcome to quote and chart these figures. They are free to use under CC BY 4.0: please credit HospitalsInEachState.com and link to this page.

Figures as of the July 2026 CMS release Updated automatically when CMS publishes new data Permanent link: hospitalsineachstate.com/er-wait-times/minnesota/

Download the data (CSV) See the State ER Wait Rankings

Source: CMS Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting, measure OP-18b (median time from ED arrival to departure for discharged patients), published July 2026. Updated when CMS publishes new data.

Hospitals with too few cases to report are not listed; they still have a page in the Minnesota hospital directory. Campuses that CMS reports under one facility number appear once. Not affiliated with CMS.