ER Wait Times in Houston, TX: 13 Hospitals Compared
13 hospitals in Houston, TX report how long their emergency room patients stay. The middle value here is 172 minutes; Texas: 138 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 Houston, TX, 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 | Median time in the ER | Left without being seen | ER volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center | 75 min (1 h 15 min) | 1% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 2 | HCA Houston Healthcare West | 104 min (1 h 44 min) | 1% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 3 | East Houston Medical Center | 132 min (2 h 12 min)† | 2% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 4 | HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest | 147 min (2 h 27 min) | 1% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 5 | Houston Methodist Hospital | 159 min (2 h 39 min) | 2% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 6 | Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center | 165 min (2 h 45 min) | 2% | High (40,000–59,999) |
| 7 | The Woman's Hospital of Texas | 172 min (2 h 52 min) | 1% | Low (under 20,000) |
| 8 | Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital | 173 min (2 h 53 min) | 1% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 9 | St. Joseph Medical Center | 180 min (3 h) | 7% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 10 | Houston Methodist West Hospital | 190 min (3 h 10 min) | 1% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 11 | St. Luke's Hospital at The Vintage | 209 min (3 h 29 min) | 0% | Medium (20,000–39,999) |
| 12 | Memorial Hermann - Texas Medical Center | 252 min (4 h 12 min) | 5% | Very high (60,000 or more) |
| 13 | Memorial Hermann Memorial City Hospital | 259 min (4 h 19 min) | 1% | High (40,000–59,999) |
† Medicare footnote 3: the result is based on a shorter period than required.
Other cities in Texas
- Amarillo173.5 min
- Arlington140.5 min
- Austin161.5 min
- Baytown159 min
- Beaumont201 min
- Brownsville156 min
- Bryan134 min
- Corpus Christi161.5 min
- Dallas203 min
- Denton130 min
- Edinburg114 min
- El Paso160 min
- Fort Worth186 min
- Frisco157 min
- Harlingen150.5 min
- Humble199.5 min
- Irving134 min
- Jacksonville93 min
- Laredo152 min
- Longview140.5 min
- Lubbock164 min
- Lufkin155.5 min
- Mansfield184.5 min
- McKinney144 min
- Nacogdoches165 min
- Odessa151.5 min
- Pasadena146 min
- Plano164 min
- Round Rock156 min
- San Antonio168 min
- Sherman142 min
- Southlake125 min
- Sugar Land177 min
- The Woodlands166 min
- Tyler152.5 min
- Victoria164 min
- Waco239 min
- Webster144 min
Common questions
Which ER in Houston, TX has the shortest wait?
In Medicare's data for October 2024 to September 2025, HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center had the shortest median time patients spent in the emergency room before going home: 75 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 Houston, TX?
The middle value of the 13 hospitals listed here is 172 minutes; for all of Texas it is 138 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.