CMS certification 201317
Northern Maine Medical Center
194 E Main Street, Fort Kent, ME 04743
CMS does not publish an overall star rating for Northern Maine Medical Center. 77% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 20 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.
What patients said
Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 141 completed surveys, 34% 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. These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.
| Measure | This hospital | ME | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 398 visits sampled | 2 h 20 min | 2 h 40 min | 2 h 42 min |
| Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 20 visits sampled | 5 h 12 min | 4 h 39 min | 4 h 17 min |
| Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 33 patients | 91% | 62% | 65% |
How Northern Maine Medical Center 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Maine Medical CenterThis hospital | Not rated | 77% | 2 h 20 min | — |
| Cary Medical CenterSame county · Caribou | 1/5 | 77% | 2 h 21 min | 1 worse |
| Houlton Regional HospitalSame county · Houlton | 3/5 | 60% | 3 h 14 min | 1 better 1 worse |
| Northern Light a R Gould HospitalSame county · Presque Isle | 2/5 | 61% | 3 h 20 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.
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 311 cases | Too few cases | 5.9% | 3.9% |
| Heart attack 36 cases | Too few cases | 12.6% | 11.9% |
| Heart failure 38 cases | Too few cases | 9.7% | 11.1% |
| Pneumonia 75 cases | Too few cases | 15.9% | 15.2% |
| Stroke 25 cases | Too few cases | 25.7% | 11.9% |
| COPD 31 cases | Too few cases | 8.9% | 8.6% |
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.
| 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 a heart attack 26 cases | Too few cases | 14.4% | 14.4% |
| Readmitted after heart failure 31 cases | Too few cases | 20.7% | 21.3% |
| Readmitted after pneumonia 79 cases | Too few cases | 16.6% | 17.3% |
| Readmitted after COPD 41 cases | Too few cases | 19.6% | 20% |
| Days back in hospital after heart failure 34 cases | Too few cases | -69.4 days per 100 | — |
| Days back in hospital after pneumonia 69 cases | Too few cases | 8.7 days per 100 | — |
| Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 390 cases | No different | 12.9 per 1,000 likely 9.8 per 1,000 – 17.2 per 1,000 | 13 per 1,000 |
| Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 31 cases | No different | 1 likely 0.7 – 1.4 | — |
6 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Not reported for this hospital
CMS had too few cases here to publish results for complications. That is common at small, rural and specialty hospitals, and says nothing either way about quality.
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 |
|---|---|
| Occupational Therapist | 6 |
| Physician Assistant | 5 |
| Psychiatric/Mental Health | 5 |
| Clinical | 4 |
| Family Medicine | 4 |
| Orthopaedic Surgery | 4 |
| Family | 3 |
| Pharmacist | 3 |
| Internal Medicine | 2 |
| Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered | 2 |
| Physical Therapist | 2 |
| Dietitian, Registered | 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 Northern Maine Medical Center
Would patients recommend Northern Maine Medical Center?
77% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 141 completed HCAHPS surveys.
How long is the wait in the Northern Maine Medical Center emergency room?
Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 20 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.