GREENSBORO, N.C. — New data shows North Carolina wait times at the ER are some of the longest in the country.
ProPublica, a non-profit news organization, compiled four years worth of data from the federal government to create what they call the "ER Inspector."
The ER Inspector tracks wait times, patient ratings and citations for emergency rooms in all 50 states including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
The data shows North Carolina ranks 10th when you account for ties.
In North Carolina, the tool looked at about 100 hospitals.
Here's a look at the largest ERs in the Triad.
When it comes to average time patients spend in the emergency room before being sent home, High Point Regional Hospital ranks third highest in the state at 3 hours 32 minutes.
Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro follows right behind at number four with 3 hours 26 minutes.
Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem and Alamance Regional in Burlington are tied at 10th, with a wait time of 3 hours 8 minutes.
Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem is the only hospital in the Triad that serves more than 60,000 people a year to be below the national average of 2 hours 50 minutes. The hospital's wait time was 2 hours 48 minutes.
For the percentage of patients who leave without being seen, Wake Forest Baptist health holds the top spot in the Triad at 5%.
ProPublica says these numbers can be used as a way to look up hospitals ahead of time to help you make an informed decision in an emergency.
Kenneth Rempher, executive vice president of acute care services and chief nurse executive of Cone Health responded to the report saying, "We’re proud to have among the fastest response times in the nation for treating heart attack, stroke and trauma patients and providing some of the best quality outcomes for these patients. For those with less critical conditions, we have seen good early results from pilot projects in reducing wait times in our emergency departments and we continue to expand options for convenient care in our community, including telemedicine, urgent care and primary care."
Head to the ER Inspector page to take a look at citations issued to some hospitals as well as to dive deeper in to the data for hospitals nearest to you.