USCareCheck

CMS certification 140084

Vista Medical Center East

1324 North Sheridan Road, Waukegan, IL 60085

Acute Care Hospitals Emergency services

Vista Medical Center East has a CMS overall rating of 2 out of 5 stars. 30% 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 2 and worse on 1. Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 9 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 30% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 1/5 174 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 1 worse 2 better of 17 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 174 completed surveys, 8% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
30%
IL 69% · US 71% · 1 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
35%
IL 70% · US 72% · 1 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
65%
IL 79% · US 80% · 1 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
69%
IL 79% · US 80% · 2 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
60%
IL 61% · US 62% · 2 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
77%
IL 86% · US 86% · 1 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
58%
IL 73% · US 74% · 1 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
48%
IL 59% · US 60% · 2 of 5 stars

This hospital Illinois 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 IL US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 344 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 45 min 3 h 9 min 2 h 42 min 2 h 42 min
Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 42 visits sampled 7 h 41 min 4 h 48 min 4 h 17 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 35,619 patients 5% 3% 2%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 324 patients 70% 63% 65%

How Vista Medical Center East 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
Vista Medical Center EastThis hospital2/530%3 h 9 min2 better 1 worse
Midwestern Region Med Center, INCSame county · Zion4/589%2 h 55 min1 worse
North Chicago VA Medical CenterSame county · North Chicago4/572%—2 better 1 worse
Advocate Condell Medical CenterSame county · Libertyville4/566%3 h 34 min4 better 1 worse
Northwestern Lake Forest HospitalSame county · Lake Forest5/578%3 h 41 min7 better 2 worse
Advocate Good Shepherd HospitalSame county · Barrington5/577%3 h 14 min5 better 1 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. All hospitals in Waukegan.

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 778 cases Too few cases 4.2% 3.9%
Heart attack 68 cases Too few cases 10.9% 11.9%
Heart failure 140 cases Too few cases 8.3% 11.1%
Pneumonia 193 cases Too few cases 14.5% 15.2%
Stroke 84 cases Too few cases 14.8% 11.9%
COPD 76 cases Too few cases 11.1% 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.

10 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Serious complications, combined measure No different 0.88 likely 0.46 – 1.3 1
Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 2,228 cases No different 0.27 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 1.14 per 1,000 0.63 per 1,000
Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 2,547 cases No different 0.25 per 1,000 likely 0.03 per 1,000 – 0.48 per 1,000 0.21 per 1,000
Broken bones from falls in the hospital 2,659 cases No different 0.29 per 1,000 likely 0.08 per 1,000 – 0.5 per 1,000 0.27 per 1,000
Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 268 cases No different 2.21 per 1,000 likely 0.52 per 1,000 – 3.89 per 1,000 2.34 per 1,000
Breathing failure after surgery 25 cases No different 8.81 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 18.68 per 1,000 9.42 per 1,000
Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 275 cases No different 3.57 per 1,000 likely 1.08 per 1,000 – 6.06 per 1,000 3.52 per 1,000
Sepsis after surgery 27 cases No different 5.1 per 1,000 likely 0.81 per 1,000 – 9.38 per 1,000 5.27 per 1,000
Surgical wound splitting open 54 cases No different 1.73 per 1,000 likely 0.21 per 1,000 – 3.24 per 1,000 1.77 per 1,000
Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 284 cases No different 1 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 2.07 per 1,000 1.06 per 1,000

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.

1 better than the nation 2 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Bloodstream infections from central lines (CLABSI) No different 0.46 likely 0.02 – 2.26 1
Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) No different 0.46 likely 0.02 – 2.27 1
C. diff intestinal infections Better 0.13 likely 0.01 – 0.65 1

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.

1 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after a heart attack 67 cases Too few cases 14.6% 14.4%
Readmitted after heart failure 172 cases Too few cases 22% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 235 cases Too few cases 18.1% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 130 cases Too few cases 21.4% 20%
Days back in hospital after a heart attack 56 cases Too few cases -57.8 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after heart failure 155 cases Too few cases -3.3 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 210 cases Too few cases 36.5 days per 100 —
Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 92 cases No different 12.9 per 1,000 likely 9.6 per 1,000 – 17.4 per 1,000 13 per 1,000

6 more measures had too few cases here to report.

Clinicians registered at this address

56 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
Emergency Medicine 11
Dietitian, Registered 6
Family 6
Anesthesiology 4
Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered 4
Physician Assistant 4
Acute Care 2
Critical Care Medicine 2
Diagnostic Radiology 2
Hospitalist 2
Internal Medicine 2
Nurse Practitioner 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 Vista Medical Center East

Is Vista Medical Center East a good hospital?

Vista Medical Center East 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 2 and worse on 1. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend Vista Medical Center East?

30% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 174 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the Vista Medical Center East emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 9 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. 5% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.