USCareCheck

CMS certification 430014

Avera St Lukes

305 S State St Post Office Box 4450, Aberdeen, SD 57401

Acute Care Hospitals Emergency services Birthing-friendly

Avera St Lukes has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. 74% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 21 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 2 and worse on 1. Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 6 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 4/5 CMS summary of quality measures
Would definitely recommend 74% US average 71%
Patient survey rating 4/5 547 completed surveys
Compared with the nation 1 worse 2 better of 21 measures CMS could compare

What patients said

Answers from patients who stayed here, collected by CMS in the national HCAHPS survey: 547 completed surveys, 32% response rate, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025.

Would definitely recommend the hospital
74%
SD 77% · US 71% · 5 of 5 stars
Rated the hospital 9 or 10 out of 10
77%
SD 77% · US 72% · 4 of 5 stars
Nurses always communicated well
81%
SD 83% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Doctors always communicated well
82%
SD 85% · US 80% · 4 of 5 stars
Staff always explained new medicines
62%
SD 68% · US 62% · 3 of 5 stars
Given information about recovering at home
88%
SD 88% · US 86% · 4 of 5 stars
Room was always clean
74%
SD 77% · US 74% · 4 of 5 stars
Always quiet at night
57%
SD 70% · US 60% · 3 of 5 stars

This hospital South Dakota 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 SD US
Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 381 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 3 min 2 h 6 min 1 h 55 min 2 h 42 min
Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 21 visits sampled 2 h 4 min 2 h 27 min 4 h 17 min
Left before being seen Lower is better · 9,586 patients 0% 1% 2%
Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 163 patients 75% 67% 65%

How Avera St Lukes 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
Avera St LukesThis hospital4/574%2 h 6 min2 better 1 worse
Sanford Medical Center AberdeenSame city4/577%2 hNo different
Marshall County Healthcare Center - CahSame ZIP area · BrittonNot rated86%1 h 45 minNo different
Community Memorial HospitalSame ZIP area · Redfield4/583%1 h 42 min1 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 Aberdeen.

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 835 cases Too few cases 3.8% 3.9%
Heart attack 108 cases Too few cases 11.7% 11.9%
Heart failure 177 cases Too few cases 11% 11.1%
Pneumonia 161 cases Too few cases 15.3% 15.2%
Stroke 66 cases Too few cases 12% 11.9%
COPD 48 cases Too few cases 8.2% 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.

12 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Serious complications, combined measure No different 1.06 likely 0.66 – 1.46 1
After hip or knee replacement 146 cases Too few cases 4.9% 4.1%
Deaths after a serious but treatable surgical complication 45 cases No different 172.14 per 1,000 likely 113 per 1,000 – 231.28 per 1,000 173.3 per 1,000
Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 1,814 cases No different 1.05 per 1,000 likely 0.11 per 1,000 – 2 per 1,000 0.63 per 1,000
Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 2,382 cases No different 0.25 per 1,000 likely 0.02 per 1,000 – 0.47 per 1,000 0.21 per 1,000
Broken bones from falls in the hospital 2,366 cases No different 0.37 per 1,000 likely 0.16 per 1,000 – 0.58 per 1,000 0.27 per 1,000
Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 768 cases No different 2.91 per 1,000 likely 1.29 per 1,000 – 4.53 per 1,000 2.34 per 1,000
Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgery 353 cases No different 1.58 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 3.26 per 1,000 1.67 per 1,000
Breathing failure after surgery 353 cases No different 6.17 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 14.43 per 1,000 9.42 per 1,000
Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 797 cases No different 2.86 per 1,000 likely 0.63 per 1,000 – 5.09 per 1,000 3.52 per 1,000
Sepsis after surgery 324 cases No different 5.78 per 1,000 likely 1.88 per 1,000 – 9.68 per 1,000 5.27 per 1,000
Surgical wound splitting open 191 cases No different 1.94 per 1,000 likely 0.47 per 1,000 – 3.41 per 1,000 1.77 per 1,000
Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 478 cases No different 1.09 per 1,000 likely 0.11 per 1,000 – 2.07 per 1,000 1.06 per 1,000

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.

3 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Urinary tract infections from catheters (CAUTI) No different 0 1
Surgical site infections after colon surgery No different 0 1
C. diff intestinal infections No different 1.1 likely 0.48 – 2.18 1

3 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.

3 no different
Measure CMS comparison This hospital National
Readmitted after a heart attack 89 cases Too few cases 14.3% 14.4%
Readmitted after heart failure 176 cases Too few cases 21.2% 21.3%
Readmitted after pneumonia 165 cases Too few cases 16.2% 17.3%
Readmitted after COPD 52 cases Too few cases 19.2% 20%
Readmitted after hip or knee replacement 136 cases Too few cases 7.2% 5.8%
Days back in hospital after a heart attack 94 cases Too few cases 25.2 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after heart failure 189 cases Too few cases -12.5 days per 100 —
Days back in hospital after pneumonia 166 cases Too few cases -25.1 days per 100 —
Hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy 69 cases No different 11.5 per 100 likely 7.9 per 100 – 16.7 per 100 10.7 per 100
ER visits during outpatient chemotherapy 69 cases No different 4.9 per 100 likely 3.1 per 100 – 7.8 per 100 5.4 per 100
Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 648 cases No different 1.1 likely 0.9 – 1.4 —

3 more measures had too few cases here to report.

Clinicians registered at this address

100 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
Physical Therapist 27
Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered 16
Occupational Therapist 16
Diagnostic Radiology 7
Athletic Trainer 4
Emergency Medicine 4
Speech-Language Pathologist 4
Anesthesiology 3
Anatomic Pathology & Clinical Pathology 2
Clinical 2
Occupational Therapy Assistant 2
Pharmacist 2

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 Avera St Lukes

Is Avera St Lukes a good hospital?

Avera St Lukes has a CMS overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Of the 21 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 2 and worse on 1. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.

Would patients recommend Avera St Lukes?

74% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 547 completed HCAHPS surveys.

How long is the wait in the Avera St Lukes emergency room?

Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 6 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.