USCareCheck

CMS certification 330395

St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore

327 Beach 19th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691

Acute Care Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore has a CMS overall rating of 1 out of 5 stars. 56% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 17 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on none and worse on 6. Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 53 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 1/5 CMS summary of quality measures
Would definitely recommend 56% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 2/5 760 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 6 worse 0 better of 17 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 760 completed surveys, 24% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
56%
NY 67% · US 71% · 2 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
52%
NY 66% · US 72% · 2 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
68%
NY 77% · US 80% · 1 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
73%
NY 77% · US 80% · 2 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
51%
NY 59% · US 62% · 2 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
79%
NY 85% · US 86% · 2 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
74%
NY 69% · US 74% · 4 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
44%
NY 49% · US 60% · 2 of 5 stars

This hospital New York 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 NY US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 345 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 3 h 22 min 3 h 53 min 3 h 14 min 2 h 42 min
Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 31 visits sampled 7 h 41 min 4 h 54 min 4 h 17 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 49,536 patients 2% 2% 2%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 843 patients 51% 60% 65%

How St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore 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
St John's Episcopal Hospital at South ShoreThis hospital1/556%3 h 53 min6 worse
Queens Hospital CenterSame county · Jamaica2/566%4 h 5 min3 better 1 worse
Jamaica Hospital Medical CenterSame county · Jamaica1/563%3 h 47 min3 better 3 worse
Elmhurst Hospital CenterSame county · Elmhurst2/559%4 h 38 min3 better
Flushing Hospital Medical CenterSame county · Flushing2/564%3 h 40 min1 better 1 worse
New York-Presbyterian/QueensSame county · Flushing5/567%4 h 40 min9 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 1,636 cases Too few cases 5.3% 3.9%
Heart attack 39 cases Too few cases 11.6% 11.9%
Heart failure 85 cases Too few cases 9.6% 11.1%
Pneumonia 349 cases Too few cases 25.8% 15.2%
Stroke 85 cases Too few cases 14.9% 11.9%
COPD 84 cases Too few cases 9.8% 8.6%

1 more measure 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.

1 worse than the nation 8 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Serious complications, combined measure No different 1.26 likely 0.87 – 1.66 1
After hip or knee replacement 40 cases Too few cases 6.5% 4.1%
Deaths after a serious but treatable surgical complication 27 cases No different 177.83 per 1,000 likely 120.89 per 1,000 – 234.77 per 1,000 173.3 per 1,000
Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 3,342 cases Worse 1.53 per 1,000 likely 0.8 per 1,000 – 2.27 per 1,000 0.63 per 1,000
Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 4,042 cases No different 0.18 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 0.4 per 1,000 0.21 per 1,000
Broken bones from falls in the hospital 4,031 cases No different 0.28 per 1,000 likely 0.07 per 1,000 – 0.48 per 1,000 0.27 per 1,000
Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 314 cases No different 2.18 per 1,000 likely 0.5 per 1,000 – 3.85 per 1,000 2.34 per 1,000
Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 281 cases No different 3.9 per 1,000 likely 1.45 per 1,000 – 6.35 per 1,000 3.52 per 1,000
Surgical wound splitting open 63 cases No different 2.07 per 1,000 likely 0.55 per 1,000 – 3.59 per 1,000 1.77 per 1,000
Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 545 cases No different 0.97 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 2.02 per 1,000 1.06 per 1,000

3 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 better than the nation 2 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Bloodstream infections from central lines (CLABSI) No different 1.29 likely 0.41 – 3.12 1
Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) No different 1.38 likely 0.64 – 2.63 1
MRSA bloodstream infections Better 0 1
C. diff intestinal infections Better 0.47 likely 0.25 – 0.82 1

2 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.

1 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after a heart attack 30 cases Too few cases 14.3% 14.4%
Readmitted after heart failure 235 cases Too few cases 23.3% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 382 cases Too few cases 20.3% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 235 cases Too few cases 22.5% 20%
Readmitted after hip or knee replacement 42 cases Too few cases 6.7% 5.8%
Days back in hospital after heart failure 91 cases Too few cases 109.7 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 305 cases Too few cases 123.2 days per 100 —
Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 73 cases No different 12.6 per 1,000 likely 9.3 per 1,000 – 16.9 per 1,000 13 per 1,000

6 more measures had too few cases here to report.

Clinicians registered at this address

170 clinicians give this hospital's street address as their practice location in NPPES, the federal provider registry, plus 194 residents and trainees. 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 20
Physician Assistant 17
Family Medicine 11
Emergency Medicine 10
Psychiatry 10
Pharmacist 8
Surgery 8
Clinical 6
Social Worker 6
Anesthesiology 5
Dietitian, Registered 5
Dermatology 4

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.

2021 total $25 general $25 · research $0
All years, 2019–2021 $550 3 reported payments
  • 2019 $150
  • 2020 $375
  • 2021 $25

General payments Research payments

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 St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore

Is St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore a good hospital?

St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore has a CMS overall rating of 1 out of 5 stars. Of the 17 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on none and worse on 6. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore?

56% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 760 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 3 h 53 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 St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore receive money from drug and device companies?

Drug and device makers reported $25 in payments to St John's Episcopal Hospital at South Shore for 2021, under the federal Open Payments program. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.