ER Wait Times in Shelby County Hospitals
Average wait times at hospital in Shelby County show the time patients can expect to spend. Actual wait times will depend on many factors, such as severity of the injury, time of day, and staffing. Patients are quickly evaluated as part of a triage process, so the most severe cases can be treated first. Depending on the hospital, this initial wait can run from a few minutes to over an hour. The times below also include wait times for initial treatment, since there can be many delays after the triage process. Choose an ER with a shorter wait time to get seen more quickly.| Hospital - Share Your Experience | City |  Total Wait Times | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | 2h 37m | ||
| Bartlett | 3h 8m | ||
| Memphis | 3h 37m | ||
| Memphis | 3h 58m | ||
| Memphis | 4h 56m | ||
| Memphis | N/A | ||
| Memphis | N/A | ||
| Memphis | N/A | ||
| Memphis | N/A |
Add an Urgent Care Center to the list
These are the average time from entering the ER to being admitted to the hospital by a doctor. In a busy ER, patients will be seen by a triage nurse first. Then the wait time will vary by severity, and how busy the ER is at the time of day. Patients with less serious problems could have substantially longer waits.
There is a 139 minute wait difference between the fastest ER in Shelby and the slowest.
Stories
Mar 08, 2026, 4:21 PM
Vanderbilt University Medical Center: "What about if I'm having chest pain and other issues " - Richard
Feb 18, 2026, 8:48 PM
Vanderbilt University Medical Center: "I’m so tired of my adult daughter being placed in the hallway for 6-12 hours when she is in the ED. She is in great pain but even when given the pain meds she cannot get a lot of relief as she cannot rest with the bright lights, loud people, machine, and doors. The nurses and docs are great, but this is really no way to treat patients. It’s worse then the old group wards that they got rid of years ago. " - Tassie
Apr 27, 2025, 4:26 AM
: "The longest wait time at UT Emergency room with a broken hand was approximately 48.5 hours with a broken right hand.
The nurses were not telling anyone why the wait time was so long. None of them were paying any attention to any of the patients. They were laughing and joking around as if nothing was going on. One young man was vomiting into a pan and not one nurse would approach him to take away the fouled pan and bring him a clean one or offering him some water to rinse his mouth out with. There was trash and drink cans under the chairs....the garbage cans were almost over flowing and trickling on to the floor.
It was absolutely disgraceful. I expect something like that at Ft Sanders....but not UT.
People were complaining about how cold it was and not one nurse on duty would offer anyone one a blanket.
There is no excuse for this kind of thoughtless disregard for people who are seeking medical attention.
Not good, UT....not good at all." - Sara
Mar 12, 2025, 10:14 PM
Cookeville Regional Medical Center: "This is unacceptable.
I was at the Cookeville ER yesterday.
I was experiencing the same issue and called the ER again this evening. They nurse instructed me to come this evening for a follow up visit.
If they would have told me that it was over a 4 hour wait, I would have asked my wife to drive me to Nashville. " - Jon
Mar 12, 2025, 10:14 PM
Cookeville Regional Medical Center: "This is unacceptable.
I was at the Cookeville ER yesterday.
I was experiencing the same issue and called the ER again this evening. They nurse instructed me to come this evening for a follow up visit.
If they would have told me that it was over a 4 hour wait, I would have asked my wife to drive me to Nashville. " - Jon
