CMS certification 190316
The General
3600 Florida Blvd, Suite 2020, Baton Rouge, LA 70806
CMS does not publish an overall star rating for The General. 74% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 6 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 1 and worse on 1. Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 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: 26 completed surveys, 5% 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 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 | LA | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 286 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 45 min | 3 h | 2 h 9 min | 2 h 42 min |
| Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 63 visits sampled | 4 h 12 min | 3 h 54 min | 4 h 17 min |
| Left before being seen Lower is better · 20,868 patients | 3% | 2% | 2% |
| Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 49 patients | 76% | 69% | 65% |
How The General 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The GeneralThis hospital | Not rated | 74% | 3 h | 1 better 1 worse |
| Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical CenterSame city | 3/5 | 73% | 2 h 48 min | 2 better 1 worse |
| Baton Rouge General Medical CenterSame city | 3/5 | 74% | 3 h 30 min | 4 better 1 worse |
| Surgical Specialty Center of Baton RougeSame city | Not rated | 88% | — | No different |
| The Spine Hospital of LouisianaSame city | Not rated | 85% | — | No different |
| Ochsner Medical Center - Baton RougeSame city | 4/5 | 68% | 3 h 17 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 Baton Rouge.
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 205 cases | Too few cases | 4.1% | 3.9% |
| Pneumonia 28 cases | Too few cases | 14.2% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 464 cases | No different | 0.52 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 1.75 per 1,000 | 0.63 per 1,000 |
| Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 634 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 637 cases | No different | 0.27 per 1,000 likely 0.05 per 1,000 – 0.48 per 1,000 | 0.27 per 1,000 |
10 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.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| C. diff intestinal infections | No different | 0.23 likely 0.01 – 1.12 | 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 heart failure 64 cases | Too few cases | 23.2% | 21.3% |
| Readmitted after pneumonia 41 cases | Too few cases | 17.3% | 17.3% |
| Days back in hospital after heart failure 29 cases | Too few cases | 235.5 days per 100 | — |
| Days back in hospital after pneumonia 33 cases | Too few cases | -38.2 days per 100 | — |
10 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Clinicians registered at this address
71 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 |
|---|---|
| Internal Medicine | 25 |
| Emergency Medicine | 12 |
| Family | 10 |
| Clinical | 3 |
| Nurse Practitioner | 3 |
| Adult Health | 2 |
| Pharmacist | 2 |
| Speech-Language Pathologist | 2 |
| Cardiovascular Disease | 1 |
| Dietitian, Registered | 1 |
| Geriatric Psychiatry | 1 |
| Hematology & Oncology | 1 |
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 The General
Is The General a good hospital?
CMS does not publish an overall star rating for The General. Of the 6 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 1 and worse on 1. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.
Would patients recommend The General?
74% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 26 completed HCAHPS surveys.
How long is the wait in the The General emergency room?
Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 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. 3% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.