USCareCheck

CMS certification 010039

Huntsville Hospital

101 Sivley Rd, Huntsville, AL 35801

Acute Care Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

Huntsville Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars. 76% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 27 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 4 and worse on 6. Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 58 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min).

Every figure on this page is published by CMS; we arrange and explain it, and score nothing ourselves.

CMS overall rating 3/5 CMS summary of quality measures
Would definitely recommend 76% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 3/5 1,328 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 6 worse 4 better of 27 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 1,328 completed surveys, 21% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
76%
AL 71% · US 71% · 4 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
70%
AL 70% · US 72% · 3 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
78%
AL 80% · US 80% · 3 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
81%
AL 82% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
61%
AL 62% · US 62% · 2 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
88%
AL 85% · US 86% · 4 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
68%
AL 71% · US 74% · 3 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
60%
AL 67% · US 60% · 3 of 5 stars

This hospital Alabama average US average

Emergency department

How long emergency patients spent here and how some time-critical care went, from CMS's timely and effective care measures, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025. CMS classes this emergency department's patient volume as very high; busier departments tend to have longer times, so the national median for departments of the same volume is shown too. These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.

Measure This hospital AL US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 399 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 3 h 21 min 3 h 58 min 2 h 29 min 2 h 42 min
Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 20 visits sampled 5 h 3 h 32 min 4 h 17 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 174,551 patients 1% 2% 2%
Stroke symptoms: brain scan read within 45 minutes Higher is better · 27 patients 48% 66% 69%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 605 patients 72% 64% 65%

Deaths

How many patients died within 30 days of admission, adjusted by CMS for how sick they were. Lower is better. Data from Jul 2022 – Jun 2025.

Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
All patients, hospital-wide 9,989 cases Too few cases 4.3% 3.9%
Heart attack 515 cases Too few cases 16.6% 11.9%
Heart failure 1,073 cases Too few cases 11.7% 11.1%
Pneumonia 1,414 cases Too few cases 19.9% 15.2%
Stroke 1,130 cases Too few cases 12.9% 11.9%
COPD 315 cases Too few cases 8.1% 8.6%
Heart bypass surgery (CABG) 271 cases Too few cases 1.5% 2.4%

Complications

How often patients had serious complications, most of them after surgery, adjusted for how sick they were. Lower is better. Data from Jul 2022 – Jun 2024.

6 worse than the nation 6 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Serious complications, combined measure Worse 1.73 likely 1.53 – 1.94 1
After hip or knee replacement 171 cases Too few cases 3.1% 4.1%
Deaths after a serious but treatable surgical complication 315 cases Worse 233.84 per 1,000 likely 200.56 per 1,000 – 267.13 per 1,000 173.3 per 1,000
Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 17,116 cases No different 0.9 per 1,000 likely 0.49 per 1,000 – 1.31 per 1,000 0.63 per 1,000
Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 18,880 cases No different 0.27 per 1,000 likely 0.11 per 1,000 – 0.42 per 1,000 0.21 per 1,000
Broken bones from falls in the hospital 19,137 cases No different 0.33 per 1,000 likely 0.17 per 1,000 – 0.5 per 1,000 0.27 per 1,000
Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 5,202 cases No different 1.73 per 1,000 likely 0.63 per 1,000 – 2.82 per 1,000 2.34 per 1,000
Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgery 2,597 cases Worse 3.38 per 1,000 likely 2.17 per 1,000 – 4.59 per 1,000 1.67 per 1,000
Breathing failure after surgery 2,556 cases Worse 20.77 per 1,000 likely 17.15 per 1,000 – 24.4 per 1,000 9.42 per 1,000
Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 4,649 cases Worse 6.52 per 1,000 likely 4.99 per 1,000 – 8.04 per 1,000 3.52 per 1,000
Sepsis after surgery 1,842 cases Worse 9.38 per 1,000 likely 6.57 per 1,000 – 12.18 per 1,000 5.27 per 1,000
Surgical wound splitting open 1,241 cases No different 1.63 per 1,000 likely 0.28 per 1,000 – 2.97 per 1,000 1.77 per 1,000
Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 3,287 cases No different 1.12 per 1,000 likely 0.35 per 1,000 – 1.9 per 1,000 1.06 per 1,000

Infections caught in the hospital

Standardized infection ratio: 1.0 means as many infections as CMS predicted for a hospital like this one. Lower is better. Data from Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

1 better than the nation 5 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Bloodstream infections from central lines (CLABSI) No different 0.93 likely 0.62 – 1.33 1
Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) No different 0.8 likely 0.55 – 1.11 1
Surgical site infections after colon surgery No different 0.66 likely 0.31 – 1.25 1
Surgical site infections after abdominal hysterectomy No different 0.44 likely 0.14 – 1.06 1
MRSA bloodstream infections No different 1.12 likely 0.74 – 1.63 1
C. diff intestinal infections Better 0.27 likely 0.2 – 0.36 1

Readmissions and return visits

How often patients had to come back to a hospital after going home. Lower is better. Data from Jul 2023 – Jun 2025.

1 better than the nation 3 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after a heart attack 826 cases Too few cases 13% 14.4%
Readmitted after heart failure 1,566 cases Too few cases 20.8% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 1,957 cases Too few cases 17% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 584 cases Too few cases 18.9% 20%
Readmitted after heart bypass surgery 398 cases Too few cases 9.6% 11%
Readmitted after hip or knee replacement 187 cases Too few cases 6% 5.8%
Days back in hospital after a heart attack 535 cases Too few cases -4.1 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after heart failure 1,205 cases Too few cases -4.3 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 1,447 cases Too few cases 17.7 days per 100 —
Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 2,545 cases No different 11.8 per 1,000 likely 9.3 per 1,000 – 14.8 per 1,000 13 per 1,000
Hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy 88 cases No different 9.2 per 100 likely 6.5 per 100 – 13.1 per 100 10.7 per 100
ER visits during outpatient chemotherapy 88 cases No different 5.1 per 100 likely 3.3 per 100 – 7.8 per 100 5.4 per 100
Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 2,223 cases Better 0.7 likely 0.6 – 0.9 —

1 more measure had too few cases here to report.

Clinicians registered at this address

473 clinicians give this hospital's street address as their practice location in NPPES, the federal provider registry. The same address can take in offices and clinics in the building, and a listing does not prove admitting privileges or current employment.

Specialty Clinicians
Hospitalist 78
Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered 68
Acute Care 50
Emergency Medicine 49
Family 38
Anesthesiology 26
Nurse Practitioner 19
Pharmacist 19
Registered Nurse 19
Physician Assistant 14
Family Medicine 10
Internal Medicine 8

First 12 alphabetically

Money from drug and device companies

Drug and device makers have to report what they pay teaching hospitals to CMS's Open Payments program. At many teaching hospitals most of it is research funding, or royalties for inventions the hospital licensed to a company. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.

2025 total $166,198 general $158,548 · research $7,650
All years, 2019–2025 $1.9M 768 reported payments
Studies funded, 2025 1 33 companies paid in total
  • 2019 $364,049
  • 2020 $238,084
  • 2021 $332,737
  • 2022 $35,553
  • 2023 $167,028
  • 2024 $552,621
  • 2025 $166,198

General payments Research payments

What the 2025 general payments were for

Type of payment Amount Payments
Speaking, teaching and other services $111,786 186
Space rental and facility fees $31,100 22
Grants $7,350 7
Medical devices and supplies on long-term loan $6,575 6
Debt forgiveness $1,597 6
Food and beverage $140 2

Largest paying companies, 2025

Company Amount Payments
Insulet Corporation $69,050 42
Medtronic, Inc. $29,655 118
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. $10,655 20
Imperative Care, Inc $7,650 2
Stryker Corporation $6,248 6
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation $4,000 2
Abbott Laboratories $4,000 2
ConvaTec Inc. $4,000 3

Largest research studies funded here, 2025

Study Amount
THE IMPERATIVE TRIAL: TREATMENT OF ACUTE ISCHEMIC STROKE WITH THE ZOOM REPERFUSION SYSTEM Imperative Care, Inc $7,650

Amounts are as the paying companies reported them to CMS; Open Payments data retrieved 13 Sep 2026. Full record on CMS Open Payments.

How to read this page

  • Everything here is published by CMS on Care Compare. We arrange it and explain it; the star ratings and the better / worse verdicts are CMS's, not ours.
  • “No different” is the most common result on most measures at most hospitals. CMS only calls a result better or worse when the difference from the national rate is statistically clear.
  • Death, complication and readmission rates are adjusted by CMS for how sick patients were, so hospitals that treat sicker patients can be compared fairly.
  • Infection results are ratios: 1.0 means as many infections as CMS predicted for a hospital like this one, below 1.0 is fewer.
  • These are hospital-wide results. They do not rate an individual doctor, nurse or department, and they are not medical advice.

CMS Care Compare data retrieved 4 Oct 2026, refreshed weekly. Where this data comes from and how we handle it · Report an error

Common questions about Huntsville Hospital

Is Huntsville Hospital a good hospital?

Huntsville Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars. Of the 27 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 4 and worse on 6. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend Huntsville Hospital?

76% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 1,328 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the Huntsville Hospital emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 58 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min). Among US emergency departments with very high patient volume, like this one, the median is 3 h 21 min. 1% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.

Does Huntsville Hospital receive money from drug and device companies?

Drug and device makers reported $166,198 in payments to Huntsville Hospital for 2025, under the federal Open Payments program. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.