Healthcare capacity strain occurs when patients’ demand for clinical resources exceeds availability.2,3 In prior research of intensive care units (ICUs)and emergency departments (EDs), higher patient volume, turnover, and severity of illness has shown associations with patient outcomes (e.g., mortality), patient throughput, and care delivery. Less well understood are ward-based threats to survivors of critical illness. This gap in knowledge impacts the over 90% of ICU survivors that transition from ICUs to general hospital wards. We previously identified an association between ward patient volume, staff workload, and overall acuity with 30-day hospital readmissions in this population. However, metrics of strain on general hospital wards have not been clearly defined.  As a next step to validate the construct of ward capacity strain, our objective was to identify measurable ward-level factors associated with ward admission wait times as prior literature has demonstrated that increased ED wait times are associated with adverse patient outcomes among critically ill patients.