CMS certification 240002
Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center
402 East Second Street, Duluth, MN 55805
Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. 73% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 23 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 2 and worse on none. Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 21 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: 650 completed surveys, 27% 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 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 | MN | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 308 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 3 h 22 min | 3 h 21 min | 2 h 11 min | 2 h 42 min |
| Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 50 visits sampled | 8 h 14 min | 3 h 24 min | 4 h 17 min |
| Left before being seen Lower is better · 41,279 patients | 3% | 2% | 2% |
| Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 189 patients | 66% | 58% | 65% |
How Essentia Health St Mary's 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essentia Health St Mary's Medical CenterThis hospital | 4/5 | 73% | 3 h 21 min | 2 better |
| Essentia Health DuluthSame city | Not rated | 63% | — | 1 better |
| St Lukes HospitalSame city | 3/5 | 74% | 3 h 47 min | 1 better 1 worse |
| Essentia Health VirginiaSame county · Virginia | 4/5 | 60% | 2 h 11 min | No different |
| Range Regional Health ServicesSame county · Hibbing | 4/5 | 69% | 2 h 49 min | 1 worse |
| Ely - Bloomenson Community HospitalSame county · Ely | Not rated | 90% | 1 h 40 min | No 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 Duluth.
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 4,211 cases | Too few cases | 3.4% | 3.9% |
| Heart attack 192 cases | Too few cases | 10.8% | 11.9% |
| Heart failure 311 cases | Too few cases | 10% | 11.1% |
| Pneumonia 76 cases | Too few cases | 12.3% | 15.2% |
| Stroke 623 cases | Too few cases | 10.7% | 11.9% |
| COPD 65 cases | Too few cases | 9.5% | 8.6% |
| Heart bypass surgery (CABG) 84 cases | Too few cases | 2.6% | 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.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serious complications, combined measure | No different | 0.9 likely 0.62 – 1.17 | 1 |
| Deaths after a serious but treatable surgical complication 126 cases | No different | 178.07 per 1,000 likely 136.15 per 1,000 – 219.99 per 1,000 | 173.3 per 1,000 |
| Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 4,802 cases | No different | 0.69 per 1,000 likely 0.11 per 1,000 – 1.28 per 1,000 | 0.63 per 1,000 |
| Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 5,708 cases | No different | 0.19 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 0.38 per 1,000 | 0.21 per 1,000 |
| Broken bones from falls in the hospital 5,766 cases | No different | 0.4 per 1,000 likely 0.21 per 1,000 – 0.6 per 1,000 | 0.27 per 1,000 |
| Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 1,840 cases | No different | 2.29 per 1,000 likely 0.92 per 1,000 – 3.66 per 1,000 | 2.34 per 1,000 |
| Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgery 725 cases | No different | 1.46 per 1,000 likely 0.03 per 1,000 – 2.89 per 1,000 | 1.67 per 1,000 |
| Breathing failure after surgery 722 cases | No different | 4.39 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 9.84 per 1,000 | 9.42 per 1,000 |
| Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 1,972 cases | No different | 2.74 per 1,000 likely 0.88 per 1,000 – 4.59 per 1,000 | 3.52 per 1,000 |
| Sepsis after surgery 706 cases | No different | 6.04 per 1,000 likely 2.83 per 1,000 – 9.26 per 1,000 | 5.27 per 1,000 |
| Surgical wound splitting open 389 cases | No different | 1.51 per 1,000 likely 0.09 per 1,000 – 2.93 per 1,000 | 1.77 per 1,000 |
| Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 1,277 cases | No different | 1.37 per 1,000 likely 0.45 per 1,000 – 2.29 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.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloodstream infections from central lines (CLABSI) | Better | 0.24 likely 0.06 – 0.66 | 1 |
| Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) | No different | 0.87 likely 0.41 – 1.66 | 1 |
| Surgical site infections after colon surgery | No different | 0.68 likely 0.25 – 1.51 | 1 |
| Surgical site infections after abdominal hysterectomy | No different | 0.88 likely 0.04 – 4.33 | 1 |
| MRSA bloodstream infections | Better | 0 | 1 |
| C. diff intestinal infections | Better | 0.16 likely 0.08 – 0.29 | 1 |
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 519 cases | Too few cases | 13.8% | 14.4% |
| Readmitted after heart failure 840 cases | Too few cases | 20.2% | 21.3% |
| Readmitted after pneumonia 169 cases | Too few cases | 16.6% | 17.3% |
| Readmitted after COPD 214 cases | Too few cases | 19.5% | 20% |
| Readmitted after heart bypass surgery 185 cases | Too few cases | 9.2% | 11% |
| Days back in hospital after a heart attack 217 cases | Too few cases | 4.5 days per 100 | — |
| Days back in hospital after heart failure 373 cases | Too few cases | -10.9 days per 100 | — |
| Days back in hospital after pneumonia 86 cases | Too few cases | 68.4 days per 100 | — |
| Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 825 cases | No different | 13.6 per 1,000 likely 10.3 per 1,000 – 18 per 1,000 | 13 per 1,000 |
| Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 268 cases | No different | 1.1 likely 0.8 – 1.5 | — |
4 more measures had too few cases here to report.
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.
- 2019 $2,732
- 2020 $6,651
- 2021 $15,287
- 2022 $1,078
- 2023 $0
- 2024 $114
Amounts are as the paying companies reported them to CMS; Open Payments data retrieved 13 Sep 2026.
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 Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center
Is Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center a good hospital?
Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Of the 23 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 2 and worse on none. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.
Would patients recommend Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center?
73% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 650 completed HCAHPS surveys.
How long is the wait in the Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center emergency room?
Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 21 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. 3% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.
Does Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center receive money from drug and device companies?
Drug and device makers reported $114 in payments to Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center for 2024, under the federal Open Payments program. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.