Hospital Bed Shortages, Aging Population Drive Massachusetts ER Wait Times

If you've had to visit a Massachusetts emergency room lately, you're confronted with a stark reality: hours-long emergency room wait times and bed shortages.

It's a reality that physicians know too well. Massachusetts emergency physicians say long ER wait times stem from a system-wide strain. An aging baby boomer population and limited post-acute care bed capacity contribute to longer hospital stays and bottlenecks in discharging patients.

According to a Boston.com report, Massachusetts ranks among the worst nationally for ER delays, with average emergency room wait times of around three hours before discharge, stated the World Population Review. Only Maryland and Delaware report longer average stays.

The biggest contributor to ER delays is boarding, health care researchers say. According to Boston.com, boarding occurs when patients who need hospital admission remain in the emergency room because no inpatient beds are available. Boarding can sometimes last for hours, days, or even weeks. The problem intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic, which further stretched staffing and hospital capacity nationwide.

“When we can't get patients out of the hospital to short-term care, long-term care, home psychiatric facilities, then they languish in the ER,” said Steven Bird, an emergency medicine doctor at UMass Memorial University campus in Worcester, in a statement shared with Boston.com.

In addition, hospital closures, such as Carney Hospital in Dorchester and several Steward hospitals across the state, worsen the load on remaining facilities and intensify emergency department strain.

The strain on the system is also straining the capacity of health care workers themselves. According to emergency medicine physician Tanya Girgenrath, emergency medicine has one of the highest burnout rates among medical specialties.

“One of the hardest things I have to navigate is doing the best possible thing for the person who is in front of me right now,” Girgenrath told Boston.com. “If I do absolutely everything for one person, that's 30 people in the waiting room who haven't seen a doctor at all.”