ER Wait Times in Mississippi: 67 Hospitals Compared
67 hospitals in Mississippi report how long their emergency room patients stay. The middle value here is 125 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 Mississippi, 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 | Covington County Hospital CAH | Collins | 74 min (1 h 14 min)† | Not reported | — |
| 2 | Baptist Medical Center Attala | Kosciusko | 77 min (1 h 17 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 3 | Tippah County Hospital | Ripley | 80 min (1 h 20 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 4 | Baptist Medical Center-Yazoo | Yazoo City | 82 min (1 h 22 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 4 | Ochsner Scott Regional | Morton | 82 min (1 h 22 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 6 | Bmh-Calhoun | Calhoun City | 83 min (1 h 23 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 6 | Webster General Hospital/ Swing Bed | Eupora | 83 min (1 h 23 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 8 | Magee General Hospital | Magee | 84 min (1 h 24 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 9 | Pontotoc Health Service Inc CAH | Pontotoc | 88 min (1 h 28 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 10 | Ochsner Stennis Memorial Hospital | De Kalb | 90 min (1 h 30 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 10 | Ochsner Watkins Hospital | Quitman | 90 min (1 h 30 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 12 | Choctaw Health Center | Philadelphia | 91 min (1 h 31 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 12 | Merit Health Central | Jackson | 91 min (1 h 31 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 14 | Baptist Medical Center-Leake | Carthage | 94 min (1 h 34 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 15 | Crossgates River Oaks Hospital | Brandon | 95 min (1 h 35 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 15 | Franklin County Memorial Hospital | Meadville | 95 min (1 h 35 min) | Not reported | — |
| 17 | Simpson General Hospital CAH | Mendenhall | 96 min (1 h 36 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 18 | S E Lackey Memorial Hospital | Forest | 97 min (1 h 37 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 19 | Baptist Memorial Hospital Booneville | Booneville | 99 min (1 h 39 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 19 | Tallahatchie General Hospital-Cah | Charleston | 99 min (1 h 39 min) | Not reported | — |
| 21 | Holmes County Hospital and Clinics | Lexington | 101 min (1 h 41 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 22 | Ochsner Laird Hospital | Union | 102 min (1 h 42 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 23 | Tyler Holmes Memorial Hospital CAH | Winona | 105 min (1 h 45 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 24 | Tishomingo Health Services Inc | Iuka | 108 min (1 h 48 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 25 | Choctaw Regional Medical Center | Ackerman | 109 min (1 h 49 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 25 | Winston Medical Center | Louisville | 109 min (1 h 49 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 27 | Clay County Medical Corporation | West Point | 110 min (1 h 50 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 28 | University of Mississippi Medical Center- Grenada | Grenada | 114 min (1 h 54 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 29 | 81st Medical Group (Keesler AFB) | Biloxi | 115 min (1 h 55 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 30 | Field Health System | Centreville | 116 min (1 h 56 min) | Not reported | — |
| 31 | Southwest MS Regional Medical Center | McComb | 121 min (2 h 1 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 32 | Merit Health River Region | Vicksburg | 123 min (2 h 3 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 33 | Highland Community Hospital | Picayune | 124 min (2 h 4 min) | 3% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 34 | Highland Hills Medical Center | Senatobia | 125 min (2 h 5 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 35 | Marion General Hospital | Columbia | 126 min (2 h 6 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 36 | Bolivar Medical Center | Cleveland | 127 min (2 h 7 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 37 | South Central Reg Med Ctr | Laurel | 128 min (2 h 8 min) | 1% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 38 | George Regional Health System | Lucedale | 132 min (2 h 12 min) | 6% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 38 | Wayne General Hospital | Waynesboro | 132 min (2 h 12 min) | 4% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 40 | Baptist Memorial Hospital-Oktibbeha County | Starkville | 133 min (2 h 13 min) | 3% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 41 | Merit Health River Oaks | Flowood | 134 min (2 h 14 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 42 | Merit Health Madison | Canton | 136 min (2 h 16 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 43 | Bmh-Golden Triangle | Columbus | 138 min (2 h 18 min) | 0% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 43 | Magnolia Regional Health Center | Corinth | 138 min (2 h 18 min) | 2% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 45 | King's Daughters Medical Center-Brookhaven | Brookhaven | 140 min (2 h 20 min) | 3% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 46 | Baptist Memorial Hospital Union County | New Albany | 144 min (2 h 24 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 47 | Ochsner Medical Center-Hancock | Bay Saint Louis | 147 min (2 h 27 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 48 | Memorial Hospital Biloxi | Biloxi | 153 min (2 h 33 min) | 2% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 49 | Merit Health Wesley | Hattiesburg | 154 min (2 h 34 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 50 | Baptist Memorial Hospital North MS | Oxford | 157 min (2 h 37 min) | 1% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 50 | Memorial Hospital at Gulfport | Gulfport | 157 min (2 h 37 min) | 3% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 52 | North Mississippi Medical Center-Gilmore Amory | Amory | 161 min (2 h 41 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 53 | Singing River Gulfport | Gulfport | 165 min (2 h 45 min) | 5% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 54 | Ochsner Rush Hospital | Meridian | 169 min (2 h 49 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 55 | Northwest Missississippi Regional Medical Center | Clarksdale | 172 min (2 h 52 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 56 | Merit Health Natchez | Natchez | 175 min (2 h 55 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 57 | Singing River Health System | Pascagoula | 176 min (2 h 56 min) | 9% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 58 | Anderson Regional Medical Center | Meridian | 185 min (3 h 5 min) | 4% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 59 | University of Mississippi Med Center | Jackson | 189 min (3 h 9 min) | 10% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 60 | Greenwood Leflore Hospital | Greenwood | 194 min (3 h 14 min) | 9% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 61 | North Mississippi Medical Center | Tupelo | 203 min (3 h 23 min) | 2% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 62 | Mississippi Baptist Medical Center | Jackson | 211 min (3 h 31 min) | 6% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 63 | Methodist Healthcare - Olive Branch Hospital | Olive Branch | 222 min (3 h 42 min) | 4% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 64 | Forrest General Hospital | Hattiesburg | 224 min (3 h 44 min) | 1% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 65 | St Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital | Jackson | 250 min (4 h 10 min) | 1% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 66 | Baptist Memorial Hospital Desoto | Southaven | 259 min (4 h 19 min) | 2% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 67 | Delta Health System - The Medical Center | Greenville | 270 min (4 h 30 min) | 7% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
† Medicare footnote 3: the result is based on a shorter period than required.
ER wait times by city in Mississippi
Common questions
Which ER in Mississippi has the shortest wait?
In Medicare's data for October 2024 to September 2025, Covington County Hospital CAH had the shortest median time patients spent in the emergency room before going home: 74 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 Mississippi?
The middle value of the 67 hospitals listed here is 125 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.