facebook tracking Iowa hospital infection and safety ratings: 40 hospitals compared

Iowa hospital infection and safety ratings

How 40 Iowa hospitals compare with the national benchmark on six infections patients can catch in the hospital, and on serious complications, according to Medicare (CMS). Iowa ranks #22 of 50 states on our infection index.

Infections Oct 2024 – Sep 2025 40 hospitals Ranked #22 of 50
Infection rank #22 of 50 Middle of the pack · all states
Infection index 1.01 +0.01 vs U.S. U.S. = 1.00
Worse on 1+ infection 0 of 36 0% of reporting hospitals; U.S. 5%
Serious complications 5 worse 0 better than national (CMS PSI 90)

Iowa results by infection

The Iowa ratio adds up the infections reported by the state's hospitals and divides by the number CMS predicts; below 1.00 means fewer than predicted. Compare it with the U.S. ratio: CMS's predictions come from a fixed baseline period and infections have fallen since, so most ratios are now below 1.00. Counts show how many Iowa hospitals CMS rated better than, no different from or worse than national.

InfectionIowa ratioU.S. ratioBetterNo differentWorse
Central line infectionsCentral line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) 0.64 0.58 2 16 0
Catheter UTIsCatheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) 0.47 0.47 5 20 0
Colon surgery infectionsSurgical site infections after colon surgery 0.70 0.83 1 16 0
Hysterectomy infectionsSurgical site infections after abdominal hysterectomy 0.82 1.02 0 3 0
MRSAMRSA bloodstream infections 0.76 0.68 1 17 0
C. diffC. diff intestinal infections 0.41 0.34 18 17 0

– means too few predicted infections to calculate a reliable ratio.

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All 40 Iowa hospitals with safety results

Listed from fewest problems to most: hospitals worse on no infection come first, then by how many infections they were better on. Most hospitals are no different from the national benchmark.

Showing the first 25 of 40 hospitals

All Iowa hospitals Iowa star ratings Iowa patient ratings Iowa ER wait times
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How Iowa compares with its neighbors

RankStateInfection indexWorse on 1+ infectionComplications worse
#4 Nebraska 0.81 0% (0 of 24) 0
#7 South Dakota 0.83 0% (0 of 11) 0
#22 Iowa 1.01 0% (0 of 36) 5
#23 Minnesota 1.02 0% (0 of 62) 0
#27 Missouri 1.04 4% (3 of 72) 1
#29 Illinois 1.05 7% (9 of 124) 8
#35 Wisconsin 1.10 4% (4 of 93) 2

Infection index: 1.00 is the U.S. level; lower is better (0.90 means about 10% fewer infections than U.S. hospitals overall, relative to what CMS predicts).

Questions about Iowa hospital safety

Which Iowa hospitals are better than national on infections?

18 Iowa hospitals were better than national on at least one infection and worse on none, led by Iowa Methodist Medical Center (Des Moines), Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines (Des Moines), Mercy Medical Center - Cedar Rapids (Cedar Rapids), Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa (Mason City), St Lukes Hospital (Cedar Rapids), University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics (Iowa City). All 18 are listed on this page.

How does Iowa compare with other states on hospital infections?

Iowa ranks #22 of 50 states on HospitalsInEachState.com's infection index (lower is better), at 1.01. Averaged across the infections with enough data, its hospitals reported about 1% more infections than U.S. hospitals overall, relative to what CMS predicts. 0 of 36 reporting hospitals (0%) were worse than national on at least one infection, compared with 5% nationwide.

What if my hospital is worse than national on an infection?

A "worse" result means CMS found the hospital reported significantly more of that infection than predicted during the measurement period. It covers one type of infection over a past period and does not mean every patient is at higher risk. If you have a planned procedure, ask your doctor or the hospital what it is doing about the result and how it applies to your care. In an emergency, go to the nearest emergency room or call 911.

Why isn't my hospital listed?

Only hospitals with at least one CMS infection comparison or a serious-complications result are listed. Hospitals with too few procedures or patient days, such as many small rural, critical access and specialty hospitals, often have no comparison. A missing result is not a bad sign. Every hospital still has its own page in the Iowa hospital directory.

Use this data

You're welcome to use these results with a link to this page.

See how all states compare

Source: CMS Care Compare, Healthcare-Associated Infections (Oct 2024 – Sep 2025) and Complications and Deaths (Jul 2022 – Jun 2024) files. "Better", "no different" and "worse" are CMS's own statistical comparisons with the national benchmark. The state ratios and infection index are HospitalsInEachState.com's calculation from the same data, not CMS ratings. Each facility is counted once by its CMS Certification Number. Updated automatically when CMS publishes new data.

Infection and complication results are one part of hospital quality and do not capture every service. Talk to your doctor about which hospital is right for your care. About the data. Not affiliated with CMS. For a medical emergency, call 911.