OTTUMWA, Iowa (KYOU) - Wait times in emergency departments to see a physician can stretch into hours. Staff at Ottumwa Regional Health Center are implementing a way to alert patients on how crowded the hospital is.

The widget on the hospital’s emergency room webpage shows how many minutes patients can expect to wait to see a medical provider.

“We feel like now is a good time to implement this widget because we have reduced those wait times by actually 50 percent in the last year,” said Samantha Haney, director of emergency services.

Haney said the ER reduced wait times by hiring more staff and adjusting shifts.

The widget calculates average wait times based on data from the previous four hours.

“It will tell you what the average wait time is from the time that you’re going to arrive

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