USCareCheck

CMS certification 241378

New Ulm Medical Center

1324 Fifth North Street, New Ulm, MN 56073

Critical Access Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

New Ulm Medical Center has a CMS overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. 79% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. On all 14 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it is no different from the national rate. Emergency patients spend a median of 1 h 40 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 5/5 CMS summary of quality measures
Would definitely recommend 79% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 4/5 373 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 0 worse 0 better of 14 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 373 completed surveys, 32% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
79%
MN 74% · US 71% · 5 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
82%
MN 75% · US 72% · 4 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
88%
MN 82% · US 80% · 5 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
86%
MN 82% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
65%
MN 65% · US 62% · 4 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
92%
MN 89% · US 86% · 5 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
79%
MN 75% · US 74% · 4 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
61%
MN 66% · US 60% · 4 of 5 stars

This hospital Minnesota 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 low; 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 · 376 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 3 min 1 h 40 min 2 h 11 min 2 h 42 min
Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 14 visits sampled 1 h 58 min 3 h 24 min 4 h 17 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 11,285 patients 0% 2% 2%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 96 patients 50% 58% 65%

How New Ulm 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
New Ulm Medical CenterThis hospital5/579%1 h 40 minNo different
Sleepy Eye Medical CenterSame county · Sleepy EyeNot rated80%1 h 47 min1 better
Mayo Clinic Health System New PragueSame ZIP area · New Prague2/576%1 h 57 min2 worse
Mayo Clinic Health System St. JamesSame ZIP area · St JamesNot rated73%1 h 38 minNo different
River's Edge Hospital & ClinicSame ZIP area · St PeterNot rated85%2 h 8 min1 better
Madelia HealthSame ZIP area · MadeliaNot rated83%2 h 1 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.

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 538 cases Too few cases 3.5% 3.9%
Heart failure 98 cases Too few cases 10.1% 11.1%
Pneumonia 95 cases Too few cases 10.8% 15.2%
Stroke 42 cases Too few cases 11.9% 11.9%

3 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
After hip or knee replacement 79 cases Too few cases 4.5% 4.1%

12 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.

2 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) No different 0 1
C. diff intestinal infections No different 0.7 likely 0.04 – 3.46 1

4 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.

4 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after heart failure 127 cases Too few cases 20.4% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 129 cases Too few cases 17.2% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 39 cases Too few cases 19.4% 20%
Readmitted after hip or knee replacement 68 cases Too few cases 6.2% 5.8%
Days back in hospital after heart failure 113 cases Too few cases -19.2 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 110 cases Too few cases -29.7 days per 100 —
Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 549 cases No different 12.4 per 1,000 likely 9.2 per 1,000 – 16.8 per 1,000 13 per 1,000
Hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy 50 cases No different 11.1 per 100 likely 7.8 per 100 – 15.4 per 100 10.7 per 100
ER visits during outpatient chemotherapy 50 cases No different 6.5 per 100 likely 4.2 per 100 – 9.5 per 100 5.4 per 100
Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 165 cases No different 1 likely 0.7 – 1.5 —

4 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 New Ulm Medical Center

Is New Ulm Medical Center a good hospital?

New Ulm Medical Center has a CMS overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. On all 14 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it is no different from the national rate. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend New Ulm Medical Center?

79% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 373 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the New Ulm Medical Center emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 1 h 40 min in its emergency department before leaving (US median 2 h 42 min). Among US emergency departments with low patient volume, like this one, the median is 2 h 3 min. 0% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.