Emergency Care | HCA Florida Ocala Hospital

24-hour emergency room in Ocala

We are prepared to handle any medical emergency you may have 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

All five of our ER locations host teams of board-certified physicians, nurses and healthcare professionals who are specially trained to deliver emergency medical services at a moment's notice. We offer ERs at our two hospitals, HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and HCA Florida West Marion Hospital and five additional freestanding ERs to provide emergency care close to home.

Related Specialties

Learn more about our related specialties

Trauma center

Stroke

Our emergency care features and services

We offer high-quality emergency treatment for various conditions and strive for quick ER wait times to get you the care you need, fast.

ER features

Our ERs feature:

Biplane angiography technology
Care Path, a fast track option to reduce time in the ER for patients with less serious injuries and illnesses
Dedicated unit and beds for cardiovascular services and treatment
Dedicated unit and beds for neurological services and treatment
Self-check-in kiosks

Please know, to ensure we treat anyone at immediate risk first, a triage nurse promptly evaluates you once you arrive at the ER. We will do everything we can to attend to you quickly and make you as comfortable as possible in the meantime.

Stroke treatment

We are certified by the Florida Agency for Health Care Association and DNV-GL Healthcare as the first and only Comprehensive Stroke Center in Marion County. This status means our highly trained neurological team provides more advanced stroke treatments in Marion, Lake and Sumter counties.

To provide this, the highest level of stroke care in the region, we offer dedicated neurological units and neuro-intensive care beds. These units are equipped with advanced technology, such as biplane angiography, which produces 3D brain views to help diagnose and treat complex strokes.

Trauma center

The trauma center at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital has been verified as a Level I trauma center by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT), the highest possible designation. HCA Florida Ocala Hospital is also currently designated by the State of Florida Department of Health as a Level II trauma center. Patients in need of emergency trauma care have immediate access to trauma surgeons, who are on site at all times.

We specifically serve Trauma Service Area 6, which is made up of Marion, Citrus and Hernando counties.

Our trauma center status is designated by the Florida Department of Health's Office of Trauma.

Freestanding ERs

When you need emergency care close to home, you can visit one of our seven ER locations. This includes 24/7 emergency care at the following locations:

At any of our ER locations, you will find the same compassionate, expert-level care you need as well as:

Adult and pediatric emergency services
Comprehensive laboratory services
Certified, trained emergency physicians and nurses
Diagnostic imaging

Our emergency room wait times

When it comes to emergency care, our goal is to continually work toward enhancing the care you receive, while reducing our wait times. This ensures you get the care you need, when you need it most.

Our wait times are updated every 30 minutes and are available on our website.

To find out the wait times of the HCA Florida emergency room nearest to you, check the top of our website or text "ER" to 32222.

Note: Message and data rates may apply. Emergency room wait times are approximate and provided for informational purposes only.

When to go to the emergency room

We understand it can be hard to know what type of medical care you need, like whether you should go to the emergency room or wait for your doctor's office to open.

Conditions that may require emergency care

We want you to feel secure about your choice for care, which is why we've created a list of symptoms that may indicate you need to visit the emergency room:

Back pain, when it is unbearable or accompanied by fever, numbness, weakness, confusion, slurred speech, vision loss or loss of control over bladder or bowels
Broken bones, when the pain is severe or there is a visible deformity
Chest pain, when it is crushing or squeezing and accompanied by other heart attack symptoms, such as shortness of breath or nausea
Concussion, when you have lost consciousness, even briefly, or experience amnesia, vomiting, slurred speech or a seizure
Flu, when symptoms become severe, such as having trouble breathing, vomiting uncontrollably or becoming dehydrated
Side pain, when it is severe and occurs in the lower right stomach, side or back or is accompanied by fever, nausea, diarrhea or blood in the urine
Stomach pain, when accompanied by a hard or tender stomach, nausea, shortness of breath, fever or irregular heartbeat
Trouble breathing, when breathing stops, is noisy or high-pitched and comes with pain in the chest or severe shortness of breath

If you are unsure if your symptoms require an emergency room visit, you can speak to a nurse 24/7 by calling our Consult-A-Nurse line.

What to expect at the emergency room

When you get to the emergency room, one of our triage nurses will assess your symptoms and vital signs. Next, a registration clerk will collect your insurance card (if available) and other information.

We medically screen, evaluate and stabilize all patients — whether or not they have insurance or are able to pay.

Anyone who has severe, life-threatening illnesses or injuries will be treated first. Everyone else will be treated in the order they arrive.

Before discharge, we encourage you to ask our emergency care teams any questions you have. It is also useful for you to keep all of your paperwork, discharge information and medicines or prescriptions together after you leave the emergency room.