A critical access hospital is a small rural hospital with a special Medicare designation: no more than 25 inpatient beds, a 24-hour emergency room, an average stay of 96 hours or less, and usually more than a 35-mile drive (15 miles on mountain or secondary roads) from another hospital. The exact federal rules are in the questions below.
Every critical access hospital in California
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Questions about critical access hospitals in California
How many critical access hospitals are there in California?
California has 38 critical access hospitals in the CMS data published October 2026.
What is a critical access hospital?
A critical access hospital is a Medicare designation for a small rural hospital. Under the federal rules, it keeps no more than 25 inpatient beds, its stays do not exceed 96 hours per patient on an annual average basis, and its emergency services are available 24 hours a day. It must be located more than a 35-mile drive on primary roads (or, in mountainous terrain or in areas with only secondary roads available, a 15-mile drive) from a hospital or another critical access hospital, unless the state certified it as a necessary provider before January 1, 2006. The designation exists to keep emergency care within reach in places too small to support a full general hospital, and it changes how Medicare pays them.
How many beds can a critical access hospital have?
No more than 25 inpatient beds, under the federal rules for critical access hospitals (42 CFR 485.620).
How long can patients stay in a critical access hospital?
Stays may not exceed 96 hours per patient on an annual average basis (42 CFR 485.620). It is an average across the year, not a limit on any one patient's stay.
Designation from the CMS Hospital General Information dataset. Data published October 2026. About the data.