USCareCheck

CMS certification 040062

Mercy Hospital Fort Smith

7301 Rogers Ave, Fort Smith, AR 72903

Acute Care Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

Mercy Hospital Fort Smith 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 26 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 4 and worse on 1. Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 48 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 3/5 459 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 1 worse 4 better of 26 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 459 completed surveys, 19% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
76%
AR 71% · US 71% · 4 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
70%
AR 73% · US 72% · 3 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
78%
AR 81% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
74%
AR 82% · US 80% · 2 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
54%
AR 64% · US 62% · 2 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
82%
AR 85% · US 86% · 2 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
73%
AR 74% · US 74% · 4 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
58%
AR 66% · US 60% · 4 of 5 stars

This hospital Arkansas 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 AR US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 442 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 3 h 21 min 3 h 48 min 2 h 30 min 2 h 42 min
Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 18 visits sampled 4 h 44 min 3 h 46 min 4 h 17 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 68,899 patients 3% 2% 2%
Stroke symptoms: brain scan read within 45 minutes Higher is better · 35 patients 49% 72% 69%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 394 patients 68% 68% 65%

How Mercy Hospital Fort Smith compares with nearby hospitals

The closest hospitals of the same kind that CMS rates or surveys - the same city first, then the same county and ZIP area. Every figure is CMS's: the overall star rating, the share of patients who would definitely recommend the hospital, the median time emergency patients spent before leaving, and how many death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS found better or worse than the national rate.

Hospital CMS stars Would recommend ER median time Vs the nation
Mercy Hospital Fort SmithThis hospital3/576%3 h 48 min4 better 1 worse
Baptist Health - Fort SmithSame city2/566%2 h 4 min2 better 1 worse
Mercy Hospital BoonevilleSame ZIP area · Booneville4/568%1 h 12 min1 better
Mercy Hospital OzarkSame ZIP area · OzarkNot rated75%1 h 49 minNo different
Mercy Hospital WaldronSame ZIP area · WaldronNot rated83%1 h 13 minNo different

Hospitals differ in size and in how sick their patients are. CMS adjusts its outcome measures for that, but a star or a percentage is a starting point for questions, not a verdict. All hospitals in Fort Smith.

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 4,182 cases Too few cases 3.3% 3.9%
Heart attack 265 cases Too few cases 12% 11.9%
Heart failure 472 cases Too few cases 11.2% 11.1%
Pneumonia 461 cases Too few cases 17.2% 15.2%
Stroke 381 cases Too few cases 10.5% 11.9%
COPD 185 cases Too few cases 8.3% 8.6%
Heart bypass surgery (CABG) 60 cases Too few cases 3.3% 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.

12 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Serious complications, combined measure No different 0.69 likely 0.39 – 1 1
After hip or knee replacement 100 cases Too few cases 3.1% 4.1%
Deaths after a serious but treatable surgical complication 92 cases No different 125.75 per 1,000 likely 75.35 per 1,000 – 176.14 per 1,000 173.3 per 1,000
Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 6,019 cases No different 0.13 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 0.73 per 1,000 0.63 per 1,000
Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 8,065 cases No different 0.2 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 0.4 per 1,000 0.21 per 1,000
Broken bones from falls in the hospital 8,058 cases No different 0.21 per 1,000 likely 0.02 per 1,000 – 0.4 per 1,000 0.27 per 1,000
Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 1,676 cases No different 1.87 per 1,000 likely 0.42 per 1,000 – 3.32 per 1,000 2.34 per 1,000
Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgery 463 cases No different 1.37 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 2.94 per 1,000 1.67 per 1,000
Breathing failure after surgery 469 cases No different 6.72 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 13.46 per 1,000 9.42 per 1,000
Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 1,758 cases No different 2.96 per 1,000 likely 1.03 per 1,000 – 4.88 per 1,000 3.52 per 1,000
Sepsis after surgery 446 cases No different 4.43 per 1,000 likely 0.76 per 1,000 – 8.1 per 1,000 5.27 per 1,000
Surgical wound splitting open 407 cases No different 1.55 per 1,000 likely 0.11 per 1,000 – 2.98 per 1,000 1.77 per 1,000
Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 1,565 cases No different 0.96 per 1,000 likely 0.04 per 1,000 – 1.88 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 4 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Bloodstream infections from central lines (CLABSI) No different 0.48 likely 0.15 – 1.16 1
Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) No different 0.65 likely 0.26 – 1.35 1
Surgical site infections after colon surgery No different 0.78 likely 0.29 – 1.73 1
MRSA bloodstream infections No different 0.77 likely 0.31 – 1.59 1
C. diff intestinal infections Better 0.16 likely 0.09 – 0.27 1

1 more measure had too few cases here to report.

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.

4 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after a heart attack 372 cases Too few cases 14.1% 14.4%
Readmitted after heart failure 818 cases Too few cases 22.5% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 776 cases Too few cases 17.6% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 372 cases Too few cases 20.5% 20%
Readmitted after heart bypass surgery 85 cases Too few cases 11.7% 11%
Readmitted after hip or knee replacement 77 cases Too few cases 6% 5.8%
Days back in hospital after a heart attack 265 cases Too few cases -5.7 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after heart failure 556 cases Too few cases -12 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 481 cases Too few cases -13.3 days per 100 —
Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 3,532 cases No different 11.7 per 1,000 likely 9.4 per 1,000 – 14.5 per 1,000 13 per 1,000
Hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy 263 cases No different 10.2 per 100 likely 7.9 per 100 – 13.1 per 100 10.7 per 100
ER visits during outpatient chemotherapy 263 cases No different 6 per 100 likely 4.4 per 100 – 8.3 per 100 5.4 per 100
Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 1,440 cases No different 0.9 likely 0.8 – 1.2 —

1 more measure had too few cases here to report.

Clinicians registered at this address

167 clinicians give this hospital's street address as their practice location in NPPES, the federal provider registry, plus 78 residents and trainees. 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
Internal Medicine 20
Emergency Medicine 19
Dietitian, Registered 15
Family 12
Family Medicine 11
Acute Care 10
Nurse Practitioner 8
Physician Assistant 8
Pharmacist 7
Critical Care Medicine 6
Hematology & Oncology 5
Anatomic Pathology & Clinical Pathology 4

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 $3,321 general $3,321 · research $0
All years, 2024–2025 $6,854 9 reported payments
  • 2024 $3,533
  • 2025 $3,321

General payments Research payments

What the 2025 general payments were for

Type of payment Amount Payments
Debt forgiveness $2,382 1
Speaking, teaching and other services $939 4

Largest paying companies, 2025

Company Amount Payments
Medline Industries LP $2,382 1
Sterilmed, Inc. $939 4

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 Mercy Hospital Fort Smith

Is Mercy Hospital Fort Smith a good hospital?

Mercy Hospital Fort Smith has a CMS overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars. Of the 26 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 4 and worse on 1. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend Mercy Hospital Fort Smith?

76% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 459 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the Mercy Hospital Fort Smith emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 48 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. 3% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.

Does Mercy Hospital Fort Smith receive money from drug and device companies?

Drug and device makers reported $3,321 in payments to Mercy Hospital Fort Smith for 2025, under the federal Open Payments program. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.