ER Wait Times in New Mexico: 32 Hospitals Compared
32 hospitals in New Mexico report how long their emergency room patients stay. The middle value here is 168 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 New Mexico, 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 | Holy Cross Hospital a Div of Taos Health Systems | Taos | 92 min (1 h 32 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 2 | Artesia General Hospital | Artesia | 99 min (1 h 39 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 3 | Dr Dan C Trigg Memorial Hospital | Tucumcari | 113 min (1 h 53 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 4 | Cibola General Hospital | Grants | 115 min (1 h 55 min) | Not reported | — |
| 5 | Miners' Colfax Medical Center | Raton | 118 min (1 h 58 min) | Not reported | — |
| 6 | Lovelace Regional Hospital - Roswell | Roswell | 130 min (2 h 10 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 7 | Union County General Hospital | Clayton | 132 min (2 h 12 min) | Not reported | — |
| 8 | Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services | Gallup | 136 min (2 h 16 min) | 4% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 9 | Socorro General Hospital | Socorro | 139 min (2 h 19 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 10 | Lincoln County Medical Center | Ruidoso | 146 min (2 h 26 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 11 | Mimbres Valley Medical Center | Deming | 148 min (2 h 28 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 12 | Three Crosses Regional Hospital LLC | Las Cruces | 151 min (2 h 31 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 13 | Lovelace Westside Hospital | Albuquerque | 159 min (2 h 39 min) | 2% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 14 | Mountain View Regional Medical Center | Las Cruces | 161 min (2 h 41 min) | 3% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 15 | Roosevelt General Hospital | Portales | 162 min (2 h 42 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 16 | Los Alamos Medical Center | Los Alamos | 168 min (2 h 48 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 16 | Presbyterian Espanola Hospital | Espanola | 168 min (2 h 48 min) | 4% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 18 | Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital | Hobbs | 170 min (2 h 50 min) | 3% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 19 | CHRISTUS St Vincent Regional Medical Center | Santa Fe | 173 min (2 h 53 min) | 1% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 20 | Sierra Vista Hospital | T Or C | 175 min (2 h 55 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 21 | Eastern New Mexico Medical Center | Roswell | 188 min (3 h 8 min) | 2% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 22 | San Juan Regional Medical Center Inc | Farmington | 190 min (3 h 10 min) | 7% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 23 | Gila Regional Medical Center | Silver City | 191 min (3 h 11 min) | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 24 | Carlsbad Medical Center | Carlsbad | 192 min (3 h 12 min) | 3% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 24 | Plains Regional Medical Center | Clovis | 192 min (3 h 12 min) | 5% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 26 | CHRISTUS Southern New Mexico | Alamogordo | 202 min (3 h 22 min) | 2% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 27 | Lovelace Women's Hospital | Albuquerque | 205 min (3 h 25 min) | 2% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 28 | Memorial Medical Center | Las Cruces | 206 min (3 h 26 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 29 | Lovelace Medical Center | Albuquerque | 212 min (3 h 32 min) | 2% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 30 | Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center | Santa Fe | 225 min (3 h 45 min) | 4% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 31 | UNM Hospital | Albuquerque | 273 min (4 h 33 min) | 2% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 32 | Presbyterian Hospital | Albuquerque | 280 min (4 h 40 min) | 8% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
ER wait times by city in New Mexico
Common questions
Which ER in New Mexico has the shortest wait?
In Medicare's data for October 2024 to September 2025, Holy Cross Hospital a Div of Taos Health Systems had the shortest median time patients spent in the emergency room before going home: 92 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 New Mexico?
The middle value of the 32 hospitals listed here is 168 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.