CMS certification 520019
Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital
2251 North Shore Dr, Rhinelander, WI 54501
Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars. 66% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. Of the 16 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 1 and worse on none. Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 42 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: 265 completed surveys, 21% 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 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 | WI | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median time in the emergency department before leaving Lower is better · 357 visits sampled · US median for EDs of the same volume: 2 h 3 min | 2 h 42 min | 2 h 17 min | 2 h 42 min |
| Median time for psychiatric and mental health patients Lower is better · 11 visits sampled | 2 h 48 min | 3 h 23 min | 4 h 17 min |
| Left before being seen Lower is better · 15,155 patients | 3% | 2% | 2% |
| Stroke symptoms: brain scan read within 45 minutes Higher is better · 16 patients | 62% | 74% | 69% |
| Severe sepsis and septic shock: all recommended care given Higher is better · 66 patients | 86% | 72% | 65% |
How Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspirus Rhinelander HospitalThis hospital | 3/5 | 66% | 2 h 42 min | 1 better |
| Marshfield Medical Center - MinocquaSame county · Minocqua | 5/5 | 79% | 2 h 54 min | 1 better |
| Aspirus Eagle River HospitalSame ZIP area · Eagle River | Not rated | 79% | 1 h 29 min | — |
| Flambeau HospitalSame ZIP area · Park Falls | 3/5 | 82% | 1 h 42 min | 1 worse |
| Howard Young Medical CenterSame ZIP area · Woodruff | 4/5 | 84% | 2 h 43 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.
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 616 cases | Too few cases | 4.2% | 3.9% |
| Heart failure 112 cases | Too few cases | 17% | 11.1% |
| Pneumonia 86 cases | Too few cases | 16.7% | 15.2% |
| Stroke 55 cases | Too few cases | 10.2% | 11.9% |
| COPD 43 cases | Too few cases | 9% | 8.6% |
2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serious complications, combined measure | No different | 1.03 likely 0.57 – 1.5 | 1 |
| Pressure ulcers (bed sores) 945 cases | No different | 0.42 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 1.53 per 1,000 | 0.63 per 1,000 |
| Collapsed lung caused by a procedure 1,258 cases | No different | 0.27 per 1,000 likely 0.04 per 1,000 – 0.5 per 1,000 | 0.21 per 1,000 |
| Broken bones from falls in the hospital 1,198 cases | No different | 0.26 per 1,000 likely 0.05 per 1,000 – 0.48 per 1,000 | 0.27 per 1,000 |
| Bleeding or hematoma after surgery 191 cases | No different | 2.26 per 1,000 likely 0.55 per 1,000 – 3.97 per 1,000 | 2.34 per 1,000 |
| Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgery 203 cases | No different | 3.58 per 1,000 likely 1.08 per 1,000 – 6.07 per 1,000 | 3.52 per 1,000 |
| Surgical wound splitting open 65 cases | No different | 1.7 per 1,000 likely 0.19 per 1,000 – 3.2 per 1,000 | 1.77 per 1,000 |
| Accidental cut or tear during abdominal surgery 160 cases | No different | 1.01 per 1,000 likely 0 per 1,000 – 2.07 per 1,000 | 1.06 per 1,000 |
5 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.
| Measure | CMS comparison | This hospital | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| C. diff intestinal infections | No different | 0.8 likely 0.2 – 2.17 | 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 heart failure 130 cases | Too few cases | 21.1% | 21.3% |
| Readmitted after pneumonia 82 cases | Too few cases | 17.2% | 17.3% |
| Readmitted after COPD 72 cases | Too few cases | 19.3% | 20% |
| Days back in hospital after heart failure 114 cases | Too few cases | -8.2 days per 100 | — |
| Days back in hospital after pneumonia 82 cases | Too few cases | -21.6 days per 100 | — |
| Unplanned visits after an outpatient colonoscopy 666 cases | No different | 13.7 per 1,000 likely 10.2 per 1,000 – 17.9 per 1,000 | 13 per 1,000 |
| Hospital admissions during outpatient chemotherapy 93 cases | No different | 10.6 per 100 likely 7.6 per 100 – 14.6 per 100 | 10.7 per 100 |
| ER visits during outpatient chemotherapy 93 cases | No different | 6.7 per 100 likely 4.4 per 100 – 9.8 per 100 | 5.4 per 100 |
| Unplanned visits after outpatient surgery 162 cases | No different | 0.9 likely 0.7 – 1.3 | — |
5 more measures had too few cases here to report.
Clinicians registered at this address
181 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 |
|---|---|
| Family | 13 |
| Internal Medicine | 11 |
| Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Registered | 11 |
| Occupational Therapist | 11 |
| Nurse Practitioner | 10 |
| Emergency Medicine | 9 |
| Physical Therapist | 9 |
| Obstetrics & Gynecology | 8 |
| Diagnostic Radiology | 7 |
| Dietitian, Registered | 6 |
| Pediatrics | 6 |
| Physical Therapy Assistant | 6 |
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.
- 2020 $1,497
- 2021 $80,040
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 Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital
Is Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital a good hospital?
Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital has a CMS overall rating of 3 out of 5 stars. Of the 16 death, complication, infection and readmission measures CMS could compare, it does better than the nation on 1 and worse on none. These are hospital-wide results published by CMS; they do not rate individual doctors or departments.
Would patients recommend Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital?
66% of patients who answered CMS's national survey would definitely recommend it, against a US average of 71%. The figure comes from 265 completed HCAHPS surveys.
How long is the wait in the Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital emergency room?
Emergency patients spend a median of 2 h 42 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. 3% of emergency patients left before being seen (US 2%). These are medians over a year of visits, not a live wait time.
Does Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital receive money from drug and device companies?
Drug and device makers reported $80,040 in payments to Aspirus Rhinelander Hospital for 2021, most of it research funding, under the federal Open Payments program. A payment on its own does not show a conflict of interest.