USCareCheck

CMS certification 070029

Bristol Hospital

41 Brewster Rd, Bristol, CT 06010

Acute Care Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

Bristol Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 2 out of 5 stars. 62% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 17 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on none and worse on 1. Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 10 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 2/5 CMS summary of quality measures
Would definitely recommend 62% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 3/5 414 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 1 worse 0 better of 17 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 414 completed surveys, 19% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
62%
CT 68% · US 71% · 3 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
64%
CT 66% · US 72% · 2 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
78%
CT 78% · US 80% · 3 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
76%
CT 77% · US 80% · 2 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
58%
CT 59% · US 62% · 2 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
89%
CT 87% · US 86% · 4 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
72%
CT 71% · US 74% · 4 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
47%
CT 48% · US 60% · 3 of 5 stars

This hospital Connecticut 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 CT US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 429 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 45 min 3 h 10 min 3 h 12 min 2 h 42 min
Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 39 visits sampled 3 h 23 min 4 h 7 min 4 h 17 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 31,009 patients 3% 2% 2%
Stroke symptoms: brain scan read within 45 minutes Higher is better · 15 patients 87% 77% 69%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 118 patients 47% 57% 65%

How Bristol 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
Bristol HospitalThis hospital2/562%3 h 10 min1 worse
John Dempsey Hospital of the University of ConnectSame county · Farmington3/580%4 h 6 min2 better 3 worse
Manchester Memorial HospitalSame county · Manchester4/558%3 h 43 min3 better
The Hospital of Central ConnecticutSame county · New Britain2/564%2 h 53 min3 better 2 worse
Hartford HospitalSame county · Hartford4/568%4 h 29 min8 better 3 worse
St Francis Hospital & Medical CenterSame county · Hartford2/563%4 h 35 min3 better 3 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 1,091 cases Too few cases 4.1% 3.9%
Heart failure 156 cases Too few cases 10.8% 11.1%
Pneumonia 203 cases Too few cases 19.4% 15.2%
Stroke 75 cases Too few cases 13.1% 11.9%
COPD 77 cases Too few cases 8.9% 8.6%

2 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.

11 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Serious complications, combined measure No different 1.12 likely 0.67 – 1.56 1
Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 1,582 cases No different 0.38 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 1.42 per 1,000 0.63 per 1,000
Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 1,865 cases No different 0.26 per 1,000 likely 0.03 per 1,000 – 0.49 per 1,000 0.21 per 1,000
Broken bones from falls in the hospital 1,895 cases No different 0.25 per 1,000 likely 0.04 per 1,000 – 0.47 per 1,000 0.27 per 1,000
Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 214 cases No different 2.54 per 1,000 likely 0.85 per 1,000 – 4.24 per 1,000 2.34 per 1,000
Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgery 58 cases No different 1.61 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 3.31 per 1,000 1.67 per 1,000
Breathing failure after surgery 56 cases No different 13.63 per 1,000 likely 4 per 1,000 – 23.25 per 1,000 9.42 per 1,000
Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 230 cases No different 4.58 per 1,000 likely 2.07 per 1,000 – 7.1 per 1,000 3.52 per 1,000
Sepsis after surgery 51 cases No different 5.89 per 1,000 likely 1.65 per 1,000 – 10.12 per 1,000 5.27 per 1,000
Surgical wound splitting open 61 cases No different 1.71 per 1,000 likely 0.2 per 1,000 – 3.23 per 1,000 1.77 per 1,000
Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 285 cases No different 1.27 per 1,000 likely 0.21 per 1,000 – 2.33 per 1,000 1.06 per 1,000

2 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 0.45 likely 0.12 – 1.23 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.

4 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after heart failure 287 cases Too few cases 22.6% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 369 cases Too few cases 17.3% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 203 cases Too few cases 21.2% 20%
Days back in hospital after heart failure 161 cases Too few cases 8.5 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 212 cases Too few cases 41.8 days per 100 —
Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 319 cases No different 13.3 per 1,000 likely 9.9 per 1,000 – 18 per 1,000 13 per 1,000
Hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy 49 cases No different 12.8 per 100 likely 8.9 per 100 – 18.2 per 100 10.7 per 100
ER visits during outpatient chemotherapy 49 cases No different 5.4 per 100 likely 3.5 per 100 – 8.5 per 100 5.4 per 100
Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 115 cases No different 1 likely 0.7 – 1.4 —

5 more measures had too few cases here to report.

Clinicians registered at this address

74 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
Physician Assistant 8
Surgical 6
Anesthesiology 5
Dietitian, Registered 5
Internal Medicine 5
Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered 5
Medical 4
Adult Health 3
Emergency Medicine 3
Family 3
Hematology & Oncology 3
Obstetrics & Gynecology 3

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 Bristol Hospital

Is Bristol Hospital a good hospital?

Bristol Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 2 out of 5 stars. Of the 17 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on none and worse on 1. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend Bristol Hospital?

62% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 414 completed HCAHPS surveys.

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

Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 10 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. 3% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.