USCareCheck

CMS certification 190060

Lake Charles Memorial Hospital

1701 Oak Park Blvd, Lake Charles, LA 70601

Acute Care Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

Lake Charles Memorial Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars. 70% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 24 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 2 and worse on 3. Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 30 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 3/5 CMS summary of quality measures
Would definitely recommend 70% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 3/5 374 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 3 worse 2 better of 24 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 374 completed surveys, 17% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Results are based on a shorter time period than required.
Would definitely recommend the hospital
70%
LA 75% · US 71% · 4 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
65%
LA 76% · US 72% · 3 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
78%
LA 84% · US 80% · 3 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
83%
LA 85% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
60%
LA 67% · US 62% · 2 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
86%
LA 87% · US 86% · 3 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
69%
LA 77% · US 74% · 3 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
64%
LA 71% · US 60% · 4 of 5 stars

This hospital Louisiana 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 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 LA US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 358 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 3 h 22 min 3 h 30 min 2 h 9 min 2 h 42 min
Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 38 visits sampled 6 h 38 min 3 h 54 min 4 h 17 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 50,971 patients 2% 2% 2%
Stroke symptoms: brain scan read within 45 minutes Higher is better · 19 patients 89% 70% 69%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 191 patients 47% 69% 65%

How Lake Charles Memorial 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
Lake Charles Memorial HospitalThis hospital3/570%3 h 30 min2 better 3 worse
CHRISTUS Ochsner St Patrick HospitalSame city3/566%2 h 22 min3 better 1 worse
CHRISTUS Ochsner Lake Area HospitalSame cityNot rated80%2 h 10 min1 worse
West Calcasieu Cameron HospitalSame county · Sulphur4/571%2 h 3 min2 better
Beauregard Memorial HospitalSame ZIP area · Deridder3/576%3 hNo different
Allen Parish HospitalSame ZIP area · KinderNot rated89%1 h 45 minNo different

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 Lake Charles.

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 1,927 cases Too few cases 5.5% 3.9%
Heart attack 140 cases Too few cases 11.9% 11.9%
Heart failure 298 cases Too few cases 10.4% 11.1%
Pneumonia 341 cases Too few cases 14.4% 15.2%
Stroke 181 cases Too few cases 13.8% 11.9%
COPD 82 cases Too few cases 8.8% 8.6%
Heart bypass surgery (CABG) 95 cases Too few cases 2.8% 2.4%

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.

2 worse than the nation 10 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Serious complications, combined measure Worse 1.41 likely 1.09 – 1.72 1
Deaths after a serious but treatable surgical complication 67 cases No different 194.71 per 1,000 likely 138.86 per 1,000 – 250.56 per 1,000 173.3 per 1,000
Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 3,640 cases No different 0.16 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 0.83 per 1,000 0.63 per 1,000
Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 4,437 cases No different 0.16 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 0.37 per 1,000 0.21 per 1,000
Broken bones from falls in the hospital 4,459 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 1,079 cases No different 2.24 per 1,000 likely 0.74 per 1,000 – 3.74 per 1,000 2.34 per 1,000
Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgery 423 cases No different 2.9 per 1,000 likely 1.34 per 1,000 – 4.46 per 1,000 1.67 per 1,000
Breathing failure after surgery 421 cases Worse 27.64 per 1,000 likely 21.29 per 1,000 – 33.99 per 1,000 9.42 per 1,000
Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 1,116 cases No different 4.3 per 1,000 likely 2.17 per 1,000 – 6.43 per 1,000 3.52 per 1,000
Sepsis after surgery 399 cases No different 5.42 per 1,000 likely 1.65 per 1,000 – 9.2 per 1,000 5.27 per 1,000
Surgical wound splitting open 157 cases No different 1.62 per 1,000 likely 0.15 per 1,000 – 3.09 per 1,000 1.77 per 1,000
Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 661 cases No different 0.91 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 1.93 per 1,000 1.06 per 1,000

1 more measure 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.

2 better than the nation 3 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Bloodstream infections from central lines (CLABSI) No different 0.25 likely 0.01 – 1.25 1
Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) Better 0.2 likely 0.01 – 1 1
Surgical site infections after colon surgery No different 0.71 likely 0.12 – 2.36 1
MRSA bloodstream infections No different 0.83 likely 0.26 – 2 1
C. diff intestinal infections Better 0.46 likely 0.26 – 0.76 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.

4 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after a heart attack 170 cases Too few cases 14.7% 14.4%
Readmitted after heart failure 388 cases Too few cases 18.9% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 416 cases Too few cases 15.6% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 112 cases Too few cases 20.2% 20%
Readmitted after heart bypass surgery 104 cases Too few cases 11.3% 11%
Days back in hospital after a heart attack 145 cases Too few cases 16.3 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after heart failure 357 cases Too few cases 1.9 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 375 cases Too few cases -27.9 days per 100 —
Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 2,319 cases No different 11.1 per 1,000 likely 8.7 per 1,000 – 14 per 1,000 13 per 1,000
Hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy 228 cases No different 11.6 per 100 likely 9 per 100 – 15 per 100 10.7 per 100
ER visits during outpatient chemotherapy 228 cases No different 6.5 per 100 likely 4.6 per 100 – 9 per 100 5.4 per 100
Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 502 cases No different 0.9 likely 0.7 – 1.2 —

2 more measures had too few cases here to report.

Clinicians registered at this address

47 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
Family 8
Nurse Practitioner 8
Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered 5
Physician Assistant 5
Anatomic Pathology & Clinical Pathology 3
Emergency Medicine 3
Pharmacist 3
Registered Nurse 3
Acute Care 1
Athletic Trainer 1
Dietitian, Registered 1
Emergency 1

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.

2025 total $7,159 general $7,159 · research $0
All years, 2019–2025 $208,852 62 reported payments
  • 2019 $13,563
  • 2020 $102,439
  • 2021 $53,013
  • 2022 $2,412
  • 2023 $24,610
  • 2024 $5,657
  • 2025 $7,159

General payments Research payments

What the 2025 general payments were for

Type of payment Amount Payments
Medical devices and supplies on long-term loan $5,101 3
Debt forgiveness $2,058 3

Largest paying companies, 2025

Company Amount Payments
AngioDynamics, Inc. $5,019 1
Baxter Healthcare $1,715 1
Fisher Scientific Company L.L.C. $308 1
Stryker Corporation $116 3

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 Lake Charles Memorial Hospital

Is Lake Charles Memorial Hospital a good hospital?

Lake Charles Memorial Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars. Of the 24 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 2 and worse on 3. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend Lake Charles Memorial Hospital?

70% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 374 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the Lake Charles Memorial Hospital emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 30 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. 2% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.

Does Lake Charles Memorial Hospital receive money from drug and device companies?

Drug and device makers reported $7,159 in payments to Lake Charles Memorial Hospital for 2025, under the federal Open Payments program. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.