Availability: Vital Emergency · Vital Urgent Care

Waiting is easier when it is expected. The busyness graph tells patients how busy the department usually is at this time of day, and, where the facility supplies it, how busy it is right now, so a long wait reads as the department's load rather than as being forgotten.

The busyness graph beneath the wait estimate

Each bar is a time of day. Taller bars are busier periods, built from the facility's recent history for that day of the week. The current period is highlighted, and where live patient counts are available a Live label describes the department right now, for example "A little busy".

A patient who can see that 6pm is the department's peak understands their wait differently from one who only knows they have been sitting for an hour. It also supports the plain explanation the app gives alongside it: waits reflect how busy the emergency department is, and several high-severity arrivals at once will lengthen them.

Why does the graph not display a live figure?

The live indicator depends on the facility sending current patient counts. Without them, the graph still displays the historical pattern.