facebook tracking Pennsylvania ER Wait Times 2026: Shortest & Longest of 137 Hospitals

Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania for patients treated and sent home lasts 3 hr 8 min, 40 min longer than the US median of 2 hr 28 min, across 137 reporting hospitals. Pennsylvania ranks #44 of 50 states in the HospitalsInEachState.com State ER Wait Rankings, where #1 has the shortest visits. The shortest is at Highlands Hospital in Connellsville (1 hr 8 min) and the longest at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (5 hr 26 min). 11 of 137 come in under two hours and 20 take four hours or more; 35 (26%) are faster than the US median.

CMS data published July 2026137 hospitals12-month medians
Pennsylvania median 3 hr 8 min +40 min vs US US median is 2 hr 28 min
Shortest 1 hr 8 min Highlands Hospital, Connellsville
Longest 5 hr 26 min Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia
Under 2 hours 11 ERs 20 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 Pennsylvania, 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 Pennsylvania 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 137 hospitals

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ER wait times in Pennsylvania'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
Greensburg 2 2 hr 23 min AHN Emerus Westmoreland · 1 hr 36 min
Erie 3 3 hr 13 min LECOM Medical Center and Behavioral Health Pavilion · 2 hr 11 min
Scranton 2 3 hr 19 min Mercy Hospital Scranton · 3 hr 7 min
Wilkes-Barre 2 3 hr 24 min Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center · 3 hr 20 min
Pittsburgh 9 3 hr 28 min VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System - University Dr · 2 hr 17 min
Lancaster 2 3 hr 40 min Lancaster General Hospital · 3 hr 29 min
Monroeville 2 4 hr 13 min UPMC East · 4 hr 5 min
Philadelphia 10 4 hr 16 min Roxborough Memorial Hospital · 3 hr 6 min

Questions about Pennsylvania ER wait times

Which Pennsylvania ER has the shortest wait?

Highlands Hospital in Connellsville, with a median visit of 1 hr 8 min. Barnes-Kasson County Hospital in Susquehanna is next at 1 hr 20 min.

Which Pennsylvania ER has the longest wait?

Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, at 5 hr 26 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 Pennsylvania?

The median is 3 hr 8 min, 40 min longer than the US median of 2 hr 28 min. 11 of 137 Pennsylvania ERs come in under two hours and 20 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 Pennsylvania ERs have a median visit of 2 hr 17 min. High and very-high-volume ERs come in at 3 hr 42 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/pennsylvania/

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