Key facts
- Patient wait time
- Nine hours
- Hospital
- Catholic Medical Center, Manchester
- Patient's origin
- Candia, New Hampshire
- National average wait time
- About two and a half hours
- Survey period
- July 2024 to June 2025
- FSER rating
- 4.9-star Google rating
Background
A New Hampshire man says he and his father had to wait nine hours in a Manchester emergency department to see a doctor, highlighting what health officials call a growing problem.
Eric York, of Candia, said his father was taken by ambulance Monday from the VA Medical Center to Catholic Medical Center, where he was sitting in a chair in a hospital gown for nine hours.
According to NH HealthCost, wait times at Queen City hospital emergency departments run above the national average of about two and a half hours, according to patient surveys taken from July 2024 to June 2025.
Current situation
York said his father was still in the waiting room when he spoke to WMUR, and that hospital staff were doing testing and blood work literally in the waiting room.
By Tuesday evening, York said his father was able to get a hospital bed.
Catholic Medical Center said in a statement that it understands how stressful and frustrating a long emergency department wait can be, and that the hospital, like others across New Hampshire, is caring for more patients than ever while facing ongoing capacity challenges.
| Location | Wait time |
|---|---|
| Manchester hospitals (Queen City) | Above national average |
| National average | About two and a half hours |
Impacts
Dr. Matt Dayno, who has worked in the Elliot emergency department for 14 years, said the emergency department is the front door of the health care system, and that critical failures around the entire health care system often show up there.
Dayno said staffing issues and patients going to the emergency department instead of their primary care physicians are only part of the problem. He noted that patients may be waiting in the hospital to leave, but they don't have a place to go afterwards.
Dayno said patients should look at other options, such as virtual visits or walk-in clinics, and that the state is losing really good medical professionals.
Future outlook
Scenario analysis: The possibilities below are not certain predictions.
Catholic Medical Center said it has been working on solutions to long emergency department waits, including expanding access to emergency care through Free Standing Emergency Rooms (FSERs).
The hospital recently opened an FSER in Nashua, which it says provides patients with another access point for timely emergency care while helping reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments.
If demand for emergency services continues to grow, the FSER model could be an important part of the solution to improving access and reducing wait times, according to the hospital. However, it remains unclear whether such measures will be enough to address the underlying capacity and staffing challenges.
Source: wmur.com
