USCareCheck

CMS certification 180064

Saint Joseph Mount Sterling

225 Falcon Drive, Mount Sterling, KY 40353

Acute Care Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

Saint Joseph Mount Sterling has a CMS overall rating of 4 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 10 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 2 h 14 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 4/5 CMS summary of quality measures
Would definitely recommend 72% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 4/5 242 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 1 worse 0 better of 10 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 242 completed surveys, 16% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
72%
KY 71% · US 71% · 4 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
74%
KY 73% · US 72% · 4 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
86%
KY 82% · US 80% · 5 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
85%
KY 82% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
67%
KY 63% · US 62% · 4 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
88%
KY 87% · US 86% · 4 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
86%
KY 75% · US 74% · 5 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
64%
KY 62% · US 60% · 4 of 5 stars

This hospital Kentucky 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 KY US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 364 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 45 min 2 h 14 min 2 h 30 min 2 h 42 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 21,088 patients 0% 2% 2%
Stroke symptoms: brain scan read within 45 minutes Higher is better · 22 patients 82% 68% 69%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 217 patients 71% 68% 65%

How Saint Joseph Mount Sterling 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
Saint Joseph Mount SterlingThis hospital4/572%2 h 14 min1 worse
St Claire Regional Medical CenterSame ZIP area · Morehead2/568%2 h 58 min1 better 2 worse
Bourbon Community HospitalSame ZIP area · Paris2/570%1 h 45 minNo different
Marcum and Wallace Memorial HospitalSame ZIP area · Irvine4/581%2 h 8 minNo different
The James B. Haggin Memorial HospitalSame ZIP area · HarrodsburgNot rated66%1 h 39 minNo different
Georgetown Community HospitalSame ZIP area · Georgetown3/565%2 h 19 min2 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 485 cases Too few cases 3.5% 3.9%
Heart failure 50 cases Too few cases 11.2% 11.1%
Pneumonia 93 cases Too few cases 13.5% 15.2%

4 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.

7 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Serious complications, combined measure No different 1.04 likely 0.55 – 1.52 1
Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 567 cases No different 0.49 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 1.69 per 1,000 0.63 per 1,000
Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 668 cases No different 0.21 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 0.44 per 1,000 0.21 per 1,000
Broken bones from falls in the hospital 666 cases No different 0.31 per 1,000 likely 0.09 per 1,000 – 0.53 per 1,000 0.27 per 1,000
Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 53 cases No different 2.33 per 1,000 likely 0.59 per 1,000 – 4.06 per 1,000 2.34 per 1,000
Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 58 cases No different 3.39 per 1,000 likely 0.79 per 1,000 – 6 per 1,000 3.52 per 1,000
Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 75 cases No different 1.35 per 1,000 likely 0.26 per 1,000 – 2.44 per 1,000 1.06 per 1,000

6 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 0.81 likely 0.04 – 3.98 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.

2 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after heart failure 119 cases Too few cases 20.4% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 224 cases Too few cases 18.2% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 89 cases Too few cases 19.2% 20%
Days back in hospital after heart failure 55 cases Too few cases 99.3 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 87 cases Too few cases 27.7 days per 100 —
Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 441 cases No different 13.9 per 1,000 likely 10.4 per 1,000 – 18.3 per 1,000 13 per 1,000
Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 85 cases No different 1.1 likely 0.8 – 1.6 —

7 more measures had too few cases here to report.

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 Saint Joseph Mount Sterling

Is Saint Joseph Mount Sterling a good hospital?

Saint Joseph Mount Sterling has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Of the 10 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 Saint Joseph Mount Sterling?

72% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 242 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the Saint Joseph Mount Sterling emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 14 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. 0% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.