2,000 of those have been waiting over a year.
Over 2,000 people have been waiting longer than a year for an appointment at the midlands hospitals.
Figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund's monthly figures for March show in total, 30,000 people were on a waiting list for an appointment in the region.
Of that number, over 4,000 are children.
The issue is most severe in Tullamore, where 13,000 people are on an in-patient or out-patient waiting list.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association says the figures spark fears the waiting lists may take a decade or more to get under control unless the opening of long-promised additional capacity is fast-tracked by the Government.
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