OTTUMWA, Iowa (KYOU) - Wait times in emergency departments to see a physician can stretch into hours. Staff at Ottumwa Regional Health Center are implementing a way to alert patients on how crowded the hospital is.

The widget on the hospital’s emergency room webpage shows how many minutes patients can expect to wait to see a medical provider.

“We feel like now is a good time to implement this widget because we have reduced those wait times by actually 50 percent in the last year,” said Samantha Haney, director of emergency services.

Haney said the ER reduced wait times by hiring more staff and adjusting shifts.

The widget calculates average wait times based on data from the previous four hours.

“It will tell you what the average wait time is from the time that you’re going to arrive to the ER to when you see the physician. And it looks back the previous four hours so if we have not seen patients in that previous four hours then that number is going to be lower,” said Haney.

The wait time reflects only how long it takes to see a provider, not the duration of the entire visit. Patient urgency may also affect individual wait times.

“We explain everything that’s going on to them. I think that makes them more comfortable as if we just bring them in and we don’t have that communication with them or we don’t set that expectation of how long something is going to take,” said Haney.

Staff said the widget adds to patient care while maintaining the hospital’s primary mission.

“Our primary focus is ensuring that our patients are cared for in the community and the more things like this widget that we can do, we’re going to continue to do,” said Haney.

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