ER Wait Times in Alaska: 17 Hospitals Compared
17 hospitals in Alaska report how long their emergency room patients stay. The middle value here is 130 minutes; national (Medicare): 162 minutes.
What this time means
Each hospital’s number is Medicare measure OP-18b: the median (middle) time from arriving at the emergency room to leaving it, for patients who were treated and went home. Half of these patients left sooner, half later. It is not the time before seeing a doctor, and it leaves out patients who were admitted to the hospital, transferred, or seen for mental health.
Medicare’s name for the measure: “Average (median) time patients spent in the emergency department before leaving from the visit, excluding patients transferred to another facility or psychiatric care/mental health patients. A lower number of minutes is better”. Patients seen October 2024 to September 2025.
Emergency rooms in Alaska, shortest time first
Ranked by Medicare's median time (OP-18b), shortest first; hospitals with the same time share a rank. Left without being seen: share of ER patients who left before a doctor or nurse saw them (January 2024 to December 2024; national 2%). ER volume: patients per year, as Medicare groups it.
| # | Hospital | City | Median time in the ER | Left without being seen | ER volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bristol Bay dba Kanakanak Hospital | Dillingham | 98 min (1 h 38 min)† | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 2 | Providence Kodiak Island Medical Ctr | Kodiak | 109 min (1 h 49 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 3 | Providence Seward Hospital | Seward | 114 min (1 h 54 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 4 | Alaska Native Medical Center | Anchorage | 122 min (2 h 2 min) | 3% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 5 | 673rd Medical Group (Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson) | Jber | 124 min (2 h 4 min)† | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 6 | Petersburg Medical Center | Petersburg | 126 min (2 h 6 min)† | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 7 | Providence Valdez Medical Center | Valdez | 128 min (2 h 8 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 8 | Cordova Community Medical Center | Cordova | 130 min (2 h 10 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 8 | PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center | Ketchikan | 130 min (2 h 10 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 10 | Mat-Su Regional Medical Center | Palmer | 134 min (2 h 14 min) | 0% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 11 | Alaska Regional Hospital | Anchorage | 135 min (2 h 15 min) | 0% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 12 | South Peninsula Hospital | Homer | 137 min (2 h 17 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 13 | Bassett ACH (FT Wainwright) | Fort Wainwright | 139 min (2 h 19 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 14 | Central Peninsula General Hospital | Soldotna | 146 min (2 h 26 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 15 | Bartlett Regional Hospital | Juneau | 169 min (2 h 49 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 16 | Fairbanks Memorial Hospital | Fairbanks | 172 min (2 h 52 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 17 | Providence Alaska Medical Center | Anchorage | 181 min (3 h 1 min) | 3% | High (40,000–59,999) |
† Medicare footnote 3: the result is based on a shorter period than required.
ER wait times by city in Alaska
Common questions
Which ER in Alaska has the shortest wait?
In Medicare's data for October 2024 to September 2025, Bristol Bay dba Kanakanak Hospital had the shortest median time patients spent in the emergency room before going home: 98 minutes. This is the total time of the visit, not the time before seeing a doctor, and it is an average of past patients, not a promise for your visit.
What is the average ER wait time in Alaska?
The middle value of the 17 hospitals listed here is 130 minutes. The national figure published by Medicare is 162 minutes. Each hospital's number is the median time from arriving at the emergency room to leaving it, for patients who were treated and went home.
Should I drive to a farther ER to wait less?
No. In an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. These times are past averages; emergency rooms see the sickest patients first, and minutes lost on the road can matter more than minutes in a waiting room.
Does a shorter time mean a better emergency room?
Not by itself. Busier emergency rooms and hospitals that treat more serious cases usually have longer times, so the ER volume is shown next to each time. The time is one measure among many on each hospital’s page.
Sources and dates
- Timely and Effective Care - Hospital — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), data updated July 22, 2026, retrieved October 31, 2026. Times: patients seen October 2024 to September 2025; left without being seen: January 2024 to December 2024.
- Timely and Effective Care - National — CMS, data updated July 22, 2026 (the national figures).
Only open hospitals that list an emergency room and report this time are included. The state and city figures are the median of the hospitals listed, calculated by us from the same CMS hospital file. Wording last revised November 11, 2026. Not medical advice.