USCareCheck

CMS certification 061301

Rio Grande Hospital

310 County Rd 14, Del Norte, CO 81132

Critical Access Hospitals Emergency services

Rio Grande Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. 82% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. On all 9 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it is no different from the national rate. Emergency patients spend a median of 45 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 82% US average 71%
Patient survey rating Not rated 87 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 0 worse 0 better of 9 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 87 completed surveys, 24% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Fewer than 100 patients completed the CAHPS survey. Use these scores with caution, as the number of surveys may be too low to reliably assess facility performance.
Would definitely recommend the hospital
82%
CO 75% · US 71%
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
84%
CO 74% · US 72%
Nurses always communicated well
81%
CO 80% · US 80%
Doctors always communicated well
81%
CO 80% · US 80%
Staff always explained new medicines
67%
CO 63% · US 62%
Given information about recovering at home
93%
CO 87% · US 86%
Room was always clean
79%
CO 75% · US 74%
Always quiet at night
74%
CO 62% · US 60%

This hospital Colorado 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. These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.

Measure This hospital CO US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 176 visits sampled 45 min 2 h 14 min 2 h 42 min

How Rio Grande 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
Rio Grande HospitalThis hospital4/582%45 minNo different
San Luis Valley Health Conejos County HospitalSame ZIP area · La JaraNot rated78%1 h 34 minNo different
San Luis Valley Regional Medical CenterSame ZIP area · Alamosa3/562%2 h 48 min1 worse

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 191 cases Too few cases 3.7% 3.9%
Heart failure 42 cases Too few cases 12.5% 11.1%
Pneumonia 51 cases Too few cases 15.6% 15.2%
COPD 39 cases Too few cases 7.6% 8.6%

3 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.

Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after heart failure 40 cases Too few cases 21.2% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 44 cases Too few cases 17.4% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 36 cases Too few cases 19.3% 20%
Days back in hospital after heart failure 50 cases Too few cases -21.4 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 49 cases Too few cases 83 days per 100 —

9 more measures had too few cases here to report.

Not reported for this hospital

CMS had too few cases here to publish results for complications, infections caught in the hospital. That is common at small, rural and specialty hospitals, and says nothing either way about quality.

Clinicians registered at this address

11 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
Family Medicine 3
Emergency Medicine 2
Addiction Medicine 1
Adult Health 1
Geriatric Medicine 1
Internal Medicine 1
Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered 1
Physician Assistant 1

First 11 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 Rio Grande Hospital

Is Rio Grande Hospital a good hospital?

Rio Grande Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. On all 9 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it is no different from the national rate. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend Rio Grande Hospital?

82% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 87 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the Rio Grande Hospital emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 45 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.