Maybe, maybe not. Our system is based on triage so if you are in dire need you go first.

A few years ago I thought I broke some ribs in a snowboarding accident (turns out it was just 3 cracked ribs). Got to the ER, was given some pain medication and help breathing and was waiting for treatment when someone ran over 2 elderly people in front of the hospital. Their need was greater than mine so they took priority while I spent about 6 hours waiting.

Last week I had my first heart attack. In this case I was the one that was immediately helped, stabilized, transferred to another hospital where they installed 2 stents and then back to my local hospital ICU all within 2 hours. If it weren’t for our system I would not be here today.

Most stories about hours in ER waiting rooms simply don't take the severity of the issue into account and just generalize.

Not saying that there are not issues, but I am so tired of the blanket anecdotal complaints