USCareCheck

CMS certification 161302

Iowa Specialty Hospital - Clarion

1316 South Main Street, Clarion, IA 50525

Critical Access Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

CMS does not publish an overall star rating for Iowa Specialty Hospital - Clarion. 83% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. On all 6 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it is no different from the national rate. Emergency patients spend a median of 1 h 48 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 Not rated There are too few measures or measure groups reported to calculate a star rating or measure group score.
Would definitely recommend 83% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 4/5 296 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 0 worse 0 better of 6 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 296 completed surveys, 26% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
83%
IA 76% · US 71% · 5 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
83%
IA 78% · US 72% · 4 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
83%
IA 83% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
82%
IA 82% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
66%
IA 65% · US 62% · 4 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
90%
IA 89% · US 86% · 4 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
81%
IA 78% · US 74% · 4 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
69%
IA 65% · US 60% · 4 of 5 stars

This hospital Iowa 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 low; 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 IA US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 407 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 3 min 1 h 48 min 2 h 3 min 2 h 42 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 4,531 patients 1% 3% 2%

How Iowa Specialty Hospital - Clarion 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
Iowa Specialty Hospital - ClarionThis hospitalNot rated83%1 h 48 minNo different
Iowa Specialty Hospital - BelmondSame county · BelmondNot rated77%1 h 28 minNo different
Palo Alto County HospitalSame ZIP area · EmmetsburgNot rated84%1 h 43 minNo different
Kossuth Regional Health CenterSame ZIP area · Algona1/587%1 h 39 min1 worse
Humboldt County Memorial HospitalSame ZIP area · HumboldtNot rated68%1 h 40 min1 worse
Trinity Regional Medical CenterSame ZIP area · Fort Dodge2/555%2 h 47 min1 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.

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 313 cases Too few cases 4% 3.9%
Pneumonia 28 cases Too few cases 20% 15.2%

5 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.

Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
After hip or knee replacement 335 cases Too few cases 3.6% 4.1%

12 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 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 hip or knee replacement 346 cases Too few cases 5.3% 5.8%
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 26 cases Too few cases 37.1 days per 100 —

12 more measures had too few cases here to report.

Clinicians registered at this address

50 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 10
Surgery 4
Internal Medicine 3
Obstetrics & Gynecology 3
Pharmacist 3
Anesthesiology 2
Dietitian, Registered 2
Family 2
Family Medicine 2
Medical 2
Orthopaedic Surgery 2
Physician Assistant 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 Iowa Specialty Hospital - Clarion

Is Iowa Specialty Hospital - Clarion a good hospital?

CMS does not publish an overall star rating for Iowa Specialty Hospital - Clarion. On all 6 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 Iowa Specialty Hospital - Clarion?

83% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 296 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the Iowa Specialty Hospital - Clarion emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 1 h 48 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min). Among US emergency departments with low patient volume, like this one, the median is 2 h 3 min. 1% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.