Delaware ranked fifth in the nation for longest emergency room wait times at 216 minutes, according to 2024 data from Becker’s Hospital Review.
U.S. Senator Chris Coons said that’s a problem. He met with healthcare leaders Friday morning to hear different perspectives and see how action at the federal level can help the situation.
Coons said his main objectives are to invest more in education and training for nurses, doctors and people who maintain hospitals. He also wants to replicate New Castle County’s Hope Center model.
“[The former county] executive championed the purchase of a large hotel and its transformation into a center where folks who are typically homeless and who often end up in emergency rooms are able to get timely, quality preventive care without having to go to an ER,” Coons said. “Replicating that nationally is something I'm going to be advocating for because it's worked well in Delaware.”
Bayhealth reported average emergency room visits from entrance to exit last about four hours.
Wait times are in part a result of workforce shortages and an aging population. Coons said these are all long-term solutions.
“But last year and this year, through the congressional appropriations process, I'm delivering millions of dollars that are helping with construction projects to expand emergency rooms to provide alternative, lower acuity health care options in the community and to help address some of these wait times,” Coons said.
Those projects will be designed and built in the next two years. Coons added the One Big Beautiful Bill Act set Delaware back by cutting about $200 million per year from its healthcare system for the next five years.
But there are still plans to improve the environment in the works, like opening the state’s first medical school.
Coons said budget cuts do a massive disservice to Delawareans, but there are still plans to finance bold initiatives around healthcare training, including one that will bring a medical school to Delaware.
“There's no quick fix to improving access to quality health care and reducing some of the long wait times in the backlogs and emergency rooms,” Coons said.
