CMS certification 110006
St Mary's Hospital
1230 Baxter Street, Athens, GA 30606
St Mary's Hospital 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 22 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 1 and worse on 4. Emergency patients spend a median of 2 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.
What patients said
Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 513 completed surveys, 16% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.
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 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 | GA | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 401 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 3 h 22 min | 2 h 10 min | 2 h 42 min | 2 h 42 min |
| Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 15 visits sampled | 2 h 51 min | 5 h 8 min | 4 h 17 min |
| Left before being seen Lower is better · 55,348 patients | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 51 patients | 76% | 63% | 65% |
How St Mary's 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Mary's HospitalThis hospital | 1/5 | 72% | 2 h 10 min | 1 better 4 worse |
| Piedmont Athens Regional Medical CenterSame city | 4/5 | 78% | 3 h 3 min | 5 better |
| Elbert Memorial HospitalSame ZIP area · Elberton | Not rated | 70% | 1 h 58 min | No different |
| St Marys Good Samaritan HospitalSame ZIP area · Greensboro | 4/5 | 86% | 2 h 2 min | 1 worse |
| Morgan Medical CenterSame ZIP area · Madison | Not rated | 85% | 1 h 43 min | No different |
| Piedmont Walton HospitalSame ZIP area · Monroe | 4/5 | 67% | 2 h 22 min | 1 better |
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 Athens.
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 2,290 cases | Too few cases | 4.1% | 3.9% |
| Heart attack 142 cases | Too few cases | 14.3% | 11.9% |
| Heart failure 164 cases | Too few cases | 12.5% | 11.1% |
| Pneumonia 191 cases | Too few cases | 21.1% | 15.2% |
| Stroke 327 cases | Too few cases | 14.3% | 11.9% |
| COPD 49 cases | Too few cases | 11.2% | 8.6% |
1 more measure 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serious complications, combined measure | Worse | 1.47 likely 1.1 – 1.83 | 1 |
| After hip or knee replacement 115 cases | Too few cases | 6.8% | 4.1% |
| Deaths after a serious but treatable surgical complication 49 cases | No different | 158.96 per 1,000 likely 106.85 per 1,000 – 211.08 per 1,000 | 173.3 per 1,000 |
| Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 2,726 cases | Worse | 1.58 per 1,000 likely 0.7 per 1,000 – 2.47 per 1,000 | 0.63 per 1,000 |
| Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 4,000 cases | No different | 0.27 per 1,000 likely 0.06 per 1,000 – 0.48 per 1,000 | 0.21 per 1,000 |
| Broken bones from falls in the hospital 3,861 cases | No different | 0.23 per 1,000 likely 0.03 per 1,000 – 0.43 per 1,000 | 0.27 per 1,000 |
| Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 1,364 cases | No different | 2.38 per 1,000 likely 0.83 per 1,000 – 3.92 per 1,000 | 2.34 per 1,000 |
| Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgery 753 cases | No different | 1.55 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 3.22 per 1,000 | 1.67 per 1,000 |
| Breathing failure after surgery 763 cases | No different | 15.98 per 1,000 likely 8.93 per 1,000 – 23.04 per 1,000 | 9.42 per 1,000 |
| Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 1,387 cases | No different | 3.72 per 1,000 likely 1.66 per 1,000 – 5.79 per 1,000 | 3.52 per 1,000 |
| Sepsis after surgery 709 cases | No different | 5.18 per 1,000 likely 1.48 per 1,000 – 8.88 per 1,000 | 5.27 per 1,000 |
| Surgical wound splitting open 331 cases | No different | 1.69 per 1,000 likely 0.19 per 1,000 – 3.18 per 1,000 | 1.77 per 1,000 |
| Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 766 cases | No different | 1.66 per 1,000 likely 0.65 per 1,000 – 2.68 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.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloodstream infections from central lines (CLABSI) | No different | 0.68 likely 0.11 – 2.25 | 1 |
| Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) | No different | 0.22 likely 0.01 – 1.09 | 1 |
| Surgical site infections after colon surgery | No different | 0.51 likely 0.09 – 1.67 | 1 |
| MRSA bloodstream infections | No different | 0.47 likely 0.02 – 2.29 | 1 |
| C. diff intestinal infections | Better | 0.26 likely 0.1 – 0.58 | 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.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Readmitted after a heart attack 212 cases | Too few cases | 13.4% | 14.4% |
| Readmitted after heart failure 349 cases | Too few cases | 20.4% | 21.3% |
| Readmitted after pneumonia 327 cases | Too few cases | 19.2% | 17.3% |
| Readmitted after COPD 92 cases | Too few cases | 18.9% | 20% |
| Readmitted after hip or knee replacement 117 cases | Too few cases | 6.4% | 5.8% |
| Days back in hospital after a heart attack 133 cases | Too few cases | 24.2 days per 100 | — |
| Days back in hospital after heart failure 204 cases | Too few cases | 34.3 days per 100 | — |
| Days back in hospital after pneumonia 209 cases | Too few cases | 23.7 days per 100 | — |
| Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 286 cases | No different | 13.6 per 1,000 likely 10.1 per 1,000 – 18.5 per 1,000 | 13 per 1,000 |
| Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 930 cases | No different | 0.9 likely 0.8 – 1.2 | — |
4 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Clinicians registered at this address
115 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 |
|---|---|
| Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered | 22 |
| Diagnostic Radiology | 12 |
| Emergency Medicine | 12 |
| Anesthesiology | 11 |
| Anesthesiologist Assistant | 10 |
| Hospitalist | 9 |
| Family | 7 |
| Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine | 4 |
| Nurse Practitioner | 4 |
| Anatomic Pathology & Clinical Pathology | 3 |
| Dietitian, Registered | 3 |
| General Acute Care Hospital | 2 |
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.
- 2019 $1,500
- 2020 $320
- 2021 $1,753
- 2022 $6,028
- 2023 $1,471
- 2024 $3,074
- 2025 $128
What the 2025 general payments were for
| Type of payment | Amount | Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Debt forgiveness | $128 | 1 |
Largest paying companies, 2025
| Company | Amount | Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Aesculap, Inc. | $128 | 1 |
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 St Mary's Hospital
Is St Mary's Hospital a good hospital?
St Mary's Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 1 out of 5 stars. Of the 22 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 1 and worse on 4. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.
Would patients recommend St Mary's Hospital?
72% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 513 completed HCAHPS surveys.
How long is the wait in the St Mary's Hospital emergency room?
Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 10 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min). Among US emergency departments with high patient volume, like this one, the median is 3 h 22 min. 1% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.
Does St Mary's Hospital receive money from drug and device companies?
Drug and device makers reported $128 in payments to St Mary's Hospital for 2025, under the federal Open Payments program. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.