Prince George's County task force advances draft report citing low bed, ED-capacity and EMS delays; hospitals, payers to be consulted

A Prince George's County emergency-department (ED) task force reviewed a near-final draft report on Sept. 29 that finds the county has fewer hospital beds and ED treatment spaces per capita than peer jurisdictions, documents prolonged emergency-medical-services (EMS) transfer times, and identifies gaps in data and funding that limit the ability to set clear remedies.

The draft, presented by Anya McCarra, senior advisor to the Prince George's County Board of Health and the task force lead, lays out findings on health-system capacity, social determinants of health, and hospital- and community-level interventions. McCarra said the report separates findings from action-oriented recommendations and that the draft will be revised after additional hospital and payer input.

The task force's work matters because the report argues ED wait times are a system-wide problem tied to bed availability, primary- and specialty-care access, EMS operations and social needs — not solely ED management. The county intends to use the task force findings to inform recommendations to state and local decision-makers and to coordinate follow-up meetings with hospitals and payers.

McCarra summarized the report's data points and limitations. She said Maryland ranks among the worst states for ED wait times and the draft includes a six‑month review (September 2024–April 2025) of EMS turnaround times divided into 0–35 minutes, over 35 minutes, and over 60 minutes. She said the charted examples showed that in September 2024 three Maryland hospitals had EMS turnaround times exceeding 60 minutes and two of…