"If this call is regarding a medical emergency, please hang up and dial  9-1-1."

There are 11 hospitals in Kent County, serving a population of 636,376 people in an area of 848 square miles. There is one hospital per 57,852 people, and one hospital per 77 square miles.

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According to the CDC, 130 million emergency rooms visits were made in 2018 in the US. If you have an accident or need urgent care, how long can you expect to wait in a Kent County emergency room?

I placed a call to four Kent County area hospitals and these are the notes.

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Google maps
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Spectrum Health:

I called Spectrum Health Blodgett, and was informed that The Spectrum Health locations "are not providing wait times". When I asked why I was informed that it was due to COVID and no further information was given.

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Google maps
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Mary Health St. Mary's:

I connected with someone who transferred me to another line. That person transferred my call again. I was then connected with someone at the ER discharge desk and they mentioned the current wait time was 0 minutes. They told me that the nurse shift change was happening at 10 a.m. and that typically helps alleviate back-ups. The employee added that the ER is normally busier in the afternoon compared to mornings.

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Google maps
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Metro Health Hospital:

"Wait times vary. It's random depending on when people come in". That is what I was informed by a person at Metro Health. "Right now, it's about an hour and a half." They stated, "We have a lot of sick people. No one is moving from here. No one is up for discharge."

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Google maps
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Forest View Hospital:

This facility does not have an Emergency Room. All admissions are transferred via ambulance from elsewhere. I was told when a person arrives they are met by admissions. Due to COVID, there is no onsite visitation.

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Vicheslav/ThinkStock/GettyStock
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Hospitalstats.org offers ER wait times. They say, "These are the average wait times at hospitals near 49505. Actual wait times will depend on many factors."

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Hospitalstats.org
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Findings from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that there were 130M total ER visits across the country, while the number of injury-related visits reached 35M. This equates to 40.4 ER visits per 100 people in the United States, with 16.2m of these visits resulting in hospital admission.

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sutiporn
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I'm not a nurse or doctor. I expect those professionals to triage and prioritize. The biggest takeaway is that emergency room wait times vary and wait times are statistical averages and may not reflect current wait times during the pandemic.

Be careful out there!

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