ATLANTA (AP) - New federal statistics show the average time
hospital emergency room patients wait to see a doctor has grown
from about 38 minutes to almost an hour over the past decade.

According to Dr. Stephen Pitts, the lead author of the report by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it's a matter of
supply and demand. He says there are more people arriving at the
ERs, and there are fewer ERs.

Overall, about 119 million visits were made to emergency rooms
in 2006, up from 90 million in 1996.

Meanwhile, according to the American Hospital Association, the
number of hospital emergency departments dropped to fewer than
4,600, from nearly 4,900.

Pitts says another reason for crowding is that patients who are
admitted to the hospital end up waiting in the ER because of the
limited number of hospital beds.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)