It's happened to all of us.
You aren't feeling well. Or maybe your youngest child is sick. Your significant other has a fever or a bad sprain that might be a break. After some discussion you finally decide to head to the emergency room.
And whamo! You're stuck. Waiting and waiting. And yes, waiting some more for a doctor.
Not anymore at Middlesex Hospital. It is now the first in Connecticut, and among only a handful in the country, to activate a new emergency room department wait time clock.
All you have to do is log on to a website and see just how long the wait will be. Times for all three emergency departments at Middlesex Hospital, the Marlborough Medical Center and the Shoreline Medical Center in Essex, are on the site. It's updated every five minutes.
According to the hospital, the wait time clock gives patients up-to-date, 'door-to-doctor' wait times.
The website for the facility goes on to say: "There are many circumstances that affect waiting times. When patients arrive by ambulance, they tend to be very sick and require our immediate attention. Patients who arrive with life threatening and more serious injuries and ailments are seen before those with non-life threatening problems."
