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California’s emergency departments (EDs) provide a critical source of health care to people with acute medical conditions and those who have experienced trauma or injury. EDs treat all patients regardless of their ability to pay. They also provide an important entry point for inpatient hospital care. In 2023, 330 acute care hospitals in California operated a licensed ED. Between 2013 and 2023, the number of EDs remained relatively stable, but visits increased by 17%, with 14.9 million visits in 2023. This growth in ED visits far outpaced the state’s overall population increase of 2%.
California’s Emergency Departments looks at the most recent data on supply, visits, and wait times, as well as trends from 2013 to 2023.
KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE:
- In 2023, emergency department visits per 1,000 residents ranged from a low of 322 in Orange County to a high of 485 in the Northern and Sierra region.
- Medi-Cal was the expected payer for 42% of all ED visits in 2023, compared to 27% for private payers and 23% for Medicare.
- Of the 86% of visits that didn’t result in a hospital admission, nearly one in five were for conditions severe enough to be life-threatening.
- In 2023, the median length of stay for California ED patients was three hours. For those with psychiatric or mental health needs, the median stay was four and a half hours.
The full report, and all the charts found in the report, are available for download below. These materials are part of CHCF’s California Health Care Almanac, an online clearinghouse for key data and analyses describing the state’s health care landscape. To see past editions of this almanac, contact us.
