USCareCheck

CMS certification 051329

Sutter Lakeside Hospital

5176 Hill Road East, Lakeport, CA 95453

Critical Access Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

Sutter Lakeside Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 4 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 11 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 1 and worse on none. Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 11 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 4/5 CMS summary of quality measures
Would definitely recommend 76% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 4/5 209 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 0 worse 1 better of 11 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 209 completed surveys, 18% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
76%
CA 69% · US 71% · 4 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
79%
CA 68% · US 72% · 4 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
79%
CA 76% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
79%
CA 76% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
70%
CA 59% · US 62% · 4 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
90%
CA 85% · US 86% · 4 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
83%
CA 72% · US 74% · 5 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
63%
CA 48% · US 60% · 4 of 5 stars

This hospital California 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 medium; 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 CA US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 374 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 45 min 2 h 11 min 2 h 54 min 2 h 42 min
Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 16 visits sampled 3 h 33 min 4 h 20 min 4 h 17 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 23,021 patients 1% 2% 2%
Stroke symptoms: brain scan read within 45 minutes Higher is better · 16 patients 81% 74% 69%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 180 patients 63% 70% 65%

How Sutter Lakeside Hospital 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
Sutter Lakeside HospitalThis hospital4/576%2 h 11 min1 better
Adventist Health ClearlakeSame county · Clearlake2/567%2 h 40 minNo different
Healdsburg HospitalSame ZIP area · HealdsburgNot rated77%1 h 34 min1 worse
Adventist Health Mendocino CoastSame ZIP area · Fort Bragg3/580%2 h 13 minNo different
Sonoma Valley HospitalSame ZIP area · Sonoma2/579%1 h 59 minNo different
Adventist Health Ukiah ValleySame ZIP area · Ukiah4/566%2 h 28 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.

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 379 cases Too few cases 3.9% 3.9%
Heart failure 94 cases Too few cases 10.7% 11.1%
Pneumonia 133 cases Too few cases 14.2% 15.2%
COPD 46 cases Too few cases 8.7% 8.6%

3 more measures had too few cases here to report.

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.

Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
After hip or knee replacement 31 cases Too few cases 3.8% 4.1%

12 more measures had too few cases here to report.

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 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
C. diff intestinal infections No different 1.25 likely 0.32 – 3.4 1

5 more measures 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.

2 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after heart failure 72 cases Too few cases 20.9% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 109 cases Too few cases 16.3% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 47 cases Too few cases 19.7% 20%
Readmitted after hip or knee replacement 36 cases Too few cases 6.3% 5.8%
Days back in hospital after heart failure 92 cases Too few cases -25.4 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 137 cases Too few cases -37.9 days per 100 —
Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 564 cases No different 13.2 per 1,000 likely 9.9 per 1,000 – 17.3 per 1,000 13 per 1,000
Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 52 cases No different 0.9 likely 0.6 – 1.3 —

6 more measures had too few cases here to report.

Clinicians registered at this address

32 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
Anesthesiology 3
Diagnostic Radiology 3
Emergency Medicine 3
Internal Medicine 3
Medical 3
Personal Emergency Response Attendant 3
Pharmacist 2
Acupuncturist 1
Addiction Medicine 1
Advanced Practice Midwife 1
Clinical 1
Dietitian, Registered 1

First 12 alphabetically

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 Sutter Lakeside Hospital

Is Sutter Lakeside Hospital a good hospital?

Sutter Lakeside Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Of the 11 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 1 and worse on none. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend Sutter Lakeside Hospital?

76% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 209 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the Sutter Lakeside Hospital emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 11 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min). Among US emergency departments with medium patient volume, like this one, the median is 2 h 45 min. 1% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.