10 hours? Wait times soar at Aultman Hospital emergency room in Canton

CANTON – The Aultman Hospital emergency room is experiencing a high volume of patients, leaving some people waiting hours and hours before seeing a doctor.

Patients were told early this morning that wait times were about 10 hours. Around 10:30 a.m., the hospital's website indicated wait times had jumped to more than 16 hours at the main emergency room. This afternoon, they decreased to more than three hours.

Anne Gunther, chief operating officer for the Aultman Healthcare Delivery system and president of Aultman Hospital, said the medical system is seeing a large number of patients across the region.

She said patients arriving at the emergency department are evaluated and triaged to ensure those who are in the most critical need of care receive it first.

"We also have staff members monitor the waiting areas to make sure no patient is in an unsafe situation," Gunther said. "At this time, because of high volumes, capacity constraints across the region and workforce challenges, wait times may be longer than usual."

According to Medicare.gov, the national average emergency room visit at a high-volume hospital with more than 60,000 patients annually is about 192 minutes. At Aultman, which is considered a high-volume facility, the average visit is 227 minutes. Data was collected from Jan. 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2021.

At Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital in Canton, officials said they are not seeing long waits. It is not clear what the wait time was throughout the day at Mercy today. A request for an average wait time was not provided.

According to the survey taken by Medicare.gov during 2021, Cleveland Clinic Mercy's emergency room visits averaged 250 minutes. At hospitals that see between 40,000 to 59,999 patients a year, the national average is 209 minutes and the Ohio average is 180 minutes.

"We do not have wait times posted as it can change very quickly in the emergency department," spokesperson Angela Smith said. "Especially with incoming trauma patients."

Aultman posts its wait times online at https://waittimes.aultman.org/.

The Aultman Alliance emergency room wait time averaged from about 45 minutes to an hour throughout the day. Aultman's other medical facilities including Aultman Orrville, Massillon Emergency, and its urgent cares in Jackson Township, North Canton and Louisville had little to no wait.

Reach Amy at 330-775-1135 or amy.knapp@indeonline.com.

This article originally appeared on The Independent: Aultman Hospital reporting high wait times with more patients