CMS certification 061322
Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center
1000 Rush Dr, Salida, CO 81201
Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center has a CMS overall rating of 1 out of 5 stars. 72% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 12 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 1 and worse on none.
Every figure on this page is published by CMS; we arrange and explain it, and score nothing ourselves.
What patients said
Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 139 completed surveys, 24% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.
How Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical CenterThis hospital | 1/5 | 72% | — | 1 better |
| St Thomas More HospitalSame ZIP area · Canon City | 4/5 | 59% | 2 h 23 min | 1 better |
| Gunnison Valley HospitalSame ZIP area · Gunnison | Not rated | 78% | 2 h 14 min | No 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 252 cases | Too few cases | 5% | 3.9% |
| Heart failure 34 cases | Too few cases | 13% | 11.1% |
| Pneumonia 46 cases | Too few cases | 16.8% | 15.2% |
| COPD 26 cases | Too few cases | 9.9% | 8.6% |
3 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.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| C. diff intestinal infections | No different | 0.76 likely 0.04 – 3.75 | 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.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Readmitted after heart failure 50 cases | Too few cases | 20.9% | 21.3% |
| Readmitted after pneumonia 45 cases | Too few cases | 16.7% | 17.3% |
| Readmitted after COPD 25 cases | Too few cases | 19.4% | 20% |
| Days back in hospital after heart failure 46 cases | Too few cases | -52.2 days per 100 | — |
| Days back in hospital after pneumonia 46 cases | Too few cases | -38.6 days per 100 | — |
| Hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy 77 cases | No different | 9.2 per 100 likely 6.3 per 100 – 13.1 per 100 | 10.7 per 100 |
| ER visits during outpatient chemotherapy 77 cases | No different | 6.1 per 100 likely 4 per 100 – 9.2 per 100 | 5.4 per 100 |
7 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. That is common at small, rural and specialty hospitals, and says nothing either way about quality.
Clinicians registered at this address
63 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 | 7 |
| Emergency Medicine | 4 |
| Internal Medicine | 4 |
| Physical Therapist | 4 |
| Nurse Practitioner | 3 |
| Surgery | 3 |
| Athletic Trainer | 2 |
| Cardiovascular Disease | 2 |
| Clinical Exercise Physiologist | 2 |
| Diagnostic Radiology | 2 |
| Neurology | 2 |
| Occupational Therapist | 2 |
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 Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center
Is Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center a good hospital?
Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center has a CMS overall rating of 1 out of 5 stars. Of the 12 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 Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center?
72% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 139 completed HCAHPS surveys.
Does Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center have an emergency room?
Yes. CMS lists emergency services at Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center.