facebook tracking South Dakota ER Wait Times 2026: Shortest & Longest of 50 Hospitals

South Dakota 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 South Dakota for patients treated and sent home lasts 1 hr 52 min, 36 min shorter than the US median of 2 hr 28 min, across 50 reporting hospitals. South Dakota ranks #2 of 50 states in the HospitalsInEachState.com State ER Wait Rankings, where #1 has the shortest visits. The shortest is at Coteau Des Prairies Health Care System in Sisseton (44 min) and the longest at Sanford Usd Medical Center (3 hr 27 min). 32 of 50 come in under two hours and 0 take four hours or more; 48 (96%) are faster than the US median.

CMS data published July 202650 hospitals12-month medians
South Dakota median 1 hr 52 min −36 min vs US US median is 2 hr 28 min
Shortest 44 min Coteau Des Prairies Health Care System, Sisseton
Longest 3 hr 27 min Sanford Usd Medical Center, Sioux Falls
Under 2 hours 32 ERs 0 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 South Dakota, 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 South Dakota 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 50 hospitals

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ER wait times in South Dakota'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
Sioux Falls 3 1 hr 52 min Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota · 1 hr 50 min
Aberdeen 2 2 hr 3 min Sanford Medical Center Aberdeen · 2 hr

Questions about South Dakota ER wait times

Which South Dakota ER has the shortest wait?

Coteau Des Prairies Health Care System in Sisseton, with a median visit of 44 min. Bennett County Hospital and Nursing Home - CAH in Martin is next at 1 hr 20 min.

Which South Dakota ER has the longest wait?

Sanford Usd Medical Center, at 3 hr 27 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 South Dakota?

The median is 1 hr 52 min, 36 min shorter than the US median of 2 hr 28 min. 32 of 50 South Dakota ERs come in under two hours and 0 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 South Dakota ERs have a median visit of 1 hr 52 min. High and very-high-volume ERs come in at 2 hr 52 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/south-dakota/

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