facebook tracking Missouri ER Wait Times 2026: Shortest & Longest of 97 Hospitals

Missouri 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 Missouri for patients treated and sent home lasts 2 hr 31 min, about the same as the US median of 2 hr 28 min, across 97 reporting hospitals. Missouri ranks #26 of 50 states in the HospitalsInEachState.com State ER Wait Rankings, where #1 has the shortest visits. The shortest is at Mosaic Medical Center Albany in Albany (1 hr 12 min) and the longest at St Louis University Hospital (5 hr 35 min). 27 of 97 come in under two hours and 8 take four hours or more; 42 (43%) are faster than the US median.

CMS data published July 202697 hospitals12-month medians
Missouri median 2 hr 31 min +3 min vs US US median is 2 hr 28 min
Shortest 1 hr 12 min Mosaic Medical Center Albany, Albany
Longest 5 hr 35 min St Louis University Hospital, St Louis
Under 2 hours 27 ERs 8 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 Missouri, 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 Missouri 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 97 hospitals

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ER wait times in Missouri'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
Kansas City 5 2 hr 30 min Research Medical Center · 1 hr 30 min
Columbia 2 3 hr 18 min Boone Hospital Center · 2 hr 55 min
Cape Girardeau 2 3 hr 28 min Southeast Missouri Hospital · 2 hr 49 min
Lee's Summit 2 3 hr 28 min Lee's Summit Medical Center · 2 hr 50 min
Joplin 2 3 hr 47 min Mercy Hospital Joplin · 3 hr 46 min
St Louis 6 3 hr 57 min Christian Hospital Northeast · 3 hr 37 min
Springfield 2 4 hr 19 min Cox Medical Center · 3 hr 39 min

Questions about Missouri ER wait times

Which Missouri ER has the shortest wait?

Mosaic Medical Center Albany in Albany, with a median visit of 1 hr 12 min. Madison Medical Center in Fredericktown is next at 1 hr 23 min.

Which Missouri ER has the longest wait?

St Louis University Hospital, at 5 hr 35 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 Missouri?

The median is 2 hr 31 min, 3 min longer than the US median of 2 hr 28 min. 27 of 97 Missouri ERs come in under two hours and 8 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 Missouri ERs have a median visit of 1 hr 56 min. High and very-high-volume ERs come in at 3 hr 40 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/missouri/

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 Missouri hospital directory. Campuses that CMS reports under one facility number appear once. Not affiliated with CMS.