ER Wait Times in North Dakota: 43 Hospitals Compared
43 hospitals in North Dakota report how long their emergency room patients stay. The middle value here is 105 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 North Dakota, 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 | Towner County Medical Center | Cando | 68 min (1 h 8 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 2 | Sanford Hillsboro | Hillsboro | 72 min (1 h 12 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 3 | SMP Health St Aloisius | Harvey | 76 min (1 h 16 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 4 | Pembina County Memorial Hospital | Cavalier | 79 min (1 h 19 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 5 | Tioga Medical Center | Tioga | 82 min (1 h 22 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 6 | Mountrail County Medical Center Inc | Stanley | 83 min (1 h 23 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 7 | Ashley Medical Center | Ashley | 86 min (1 h 26 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 7 | Northwood Deaconess Health Center | Northwood | 86 min (1 h 26 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 7 | St Luke's Hospital | Crosby | 86 min (1 h 26 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 10 | Cavalier County Memorial Hospital Association | Langdon | 90 min (1 h 30 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 11 | Nelson County Health System | McVille | 91 min (1 h 31 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 12 | Standing Rock Service Unit | Fort Yates, | 93 min (1 h 33 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 13 | South Central Health | Wishek | 98 min (1 h 38 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 14 | Sanford Mayville | Mayville | 99 min (1 h 39 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 15 | CHI Mercy Health | Valley City | 100 min (1 h 40 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 16 | Presentation Medical Center | Rolla | 101 min (1 h 41 min) | 4% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 17 | Garrison Memorial Hospital | Garrison | 102 min (1 h 42 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 17 | Trinity Kenmare Community Hospital | Kenmare | 102 min (1 h 42 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 19 | Carrington Health Center | Carrington | 104 min (1 h 44 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 19 | CHI St Alexius Health Turtle Lake | Turtle Lake | 104 min (1 h 44 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 19 | Heart of America Medical Center | Rugby | 104 min (1 h 44 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 22 | St Andrew's Hospital | Bottineau | 105 min (1 h 45 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 23 | CHI Oakes Hospital | Oakes | 107 min (1 h 47 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 24 | Essentia Health | Fargo | 108 min (1 h 48 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 24 | Linton Hospital - CAH | Linton | 108 min (1 h 48 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 26 | Jamestown Regional Medical Center | Jamestown | 109 min (1 h 49 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 27 | Lisbon Area Health Services | Lisbon | 110 min (1 h 50 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 28 | First Care Health Center | Park River | 111 min (1 h 51 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 28 | Jacobson Memorial Hospital Care Center | Elgin | 111 min (1 h 51 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 30 | Sakakawea Medical Center - CAH | Hazen | 112 min (1 h 52 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 31 | Southwest Healthcare Services | Bowman | 118 min (1 h 58 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 32 | Cooperstown Medical Center | Cooperstown | 121 min (2 h 1 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 33 | West River Regional Medical Center | Hettinger | 122 min (2 h 2 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 34 | Unity Medical Center | Grafton | 126 min (2 h 6 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 35 | McKenzie County Healthcare Systems Inc | Watford City | 130 min (2 h 10 min) | 0% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 36 | CHI St Alexius Health Devils Lake | Devils Lake | 133 min (2 h 13 min)† | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 37 | CHI St Alexius Health Williston | Williston | 156 min (2 h 36 min) | 3% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 38 | CHI St Alexius Health Dickinson | Dickinson | 174 min (2 h 54 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 39 | CHI St Alexius Health | Bismarck | 176 min (2 h 56 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 40 | Altru Hospital | Grand Forks | 177 min (2 h 57 min) | 2% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 41 | Sanford Medical Center Bismarck | Bismarck | 180 min (3 h) | 6% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 42 | Sanford Medical Center Fargo | Fargo | 181 min (3 h 1 min) | 2% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 43 | Trinity Hospitals | Minot | 247 min (4 h 7 min) | 8% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
† Medicare footnote 3: the result is based on a shorter period than required.
ER wait times by city in North Dakota
Common questions
Which ER in North Dakota has the shortest wait?
In Medicare's data for October 2024 to September 2025, Towner County Medical Center had the shortest median time patients spent in the emergency room before going home: 68 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 North Dakota?
The middle value of the 43 hospitals listed here is 105 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.