North Dakota hospital infection and safety ratings: 11 hospitals compared

Infection rank #5 of 50 Among the 10 lowest · all states

Infection index 0.82 −0.18 vs U.S. U.S. = 1.00

Worse on 1+ infection 0 of 10 0% of reporting hospitals; U.S. 5%

Serious complications 0 worse 0 better than national (CMS PSI 90)

North Dakota results by infection

The North Dakota 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 North Dakota hospitals CMS rated better than, no different from or worse than national.

Infection	North Dakota ratio	U.S. ratio	Better	No different
Central line infectionsCentral line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI)	0.39	0.58	2	4
Catheter UTIsCatheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI)	0.42	0.47	1	5
Colon surgery infectionsSurgical site infections after colon surgery	0.90	0.83	0	6
Hysterectomy infectionsSurgical site infections after abdominal hysterectomy	–	1.02	0	0
MRSAMRSA bloodstream infections	0.30	0.68	1	5
C. diffC. diff intestinal infections	0.34	0.34	5	5

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

All 11 North Dakota 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 all 11 hospitals

North Dakota hospitals: CMS infection and serious-complication results compared with national, Oct 2024 – Sep 2025
Hospital	Infections	Results	Serious complications
Sanford Medical Center FargoFargo 4 better · 0 worse Complications: same as national Acute care	Central line infections: better than national. Catheter UTIs: better than national. Colon surgery infections: no different from national. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: better than national. C. diff: better than national.	4 better · 0 worse of 5 compared	Same as national
Altru Health SystemGrand Forks 2 better · 0 worse Complications: same as national Acute care	Central line infections: better than national. Catheter UTIs: no different from national. Colon surgery infections: no different from national. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: no different from national. C. diff: better than national.	2 better · 0 worse of 5 compared	Same as national
Essentia Health-FargoFargo 1 better · 0 worse Complications: same as national Acute care	Central line infections: no different from national. Catheter UTIs: no different from national. Colon surgery infections: no different from national. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: no different from national. C. diff: better than national.	1 better · 0 worse of 5 compared	Same as national
Sanford Medical Center BismarckBismarck 1 better · 0 worse Complications: same as national Acute care	Central line infections: no different from national. Catheter UTIs: no different from national. Colon surgery infections: no different from national. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: no different from national. C. diff: better than national.	1 better · 0 worse of 5 compared	Same as national
Trinity HospitalsMinot 1 better · 0 worse Complications: same as national Acute care	Central line infections: no different from national. Catheter UTIs: no different from national. Colon surgery infections: no different from national. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: no different from national. C. diff: better than national.	1 better · 0 worse of 5 compared	Same as national
CHI St Alexius Health Devils LakeDevils Lake 0 better · 0 worse Critical Access	Central line infections: not reported. Catheter UTIs: not reported. Colon surgery infections: not reported. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: not reported. C. diff: no different from national.	0 better · 0 worse of 1 compared	Not compared
CHI St Alexius Health WillistonWilliston 0 better · 0 worse Critical Access	Central line infections: not reported. Catheter UTIs: not reported. Colon surgery infections: not reported. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: not reported. C. diff: no different from national.	0 better · 0 worse of 1 compared	Not compared
Fargo VA Medical CenterFargo Complications: same as national VA	Central line infections: not reported. Catheter UTIs: not reported. Colon surgery infections: not reported. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: not reported. C. diff: not reported.	No infection comparisons	Same as national
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Northwood Deaconess Health CenterNorthwood 0 better · 0 worse Critical Access	Central line infections: not reported. Catheter UTIs: not reported. Colon surgery infections: not reported. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: not reported. C. diff: no different from national.	0 better · 0 worse of 1 compared	Not compared
St Alexius Medical CenterBismarck 0 better · 0 worse Complications: same as national Acute care	Central line infections: no different from national. Catheter UTIs: no different from national. Colon surgery infections: no different from national. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: no different from national. C. diff: no different from national.	0 better · 0 worse of 5 compared	Same as national
St Joseph's Hospital & Health CenterDickinson 0 better · 0 worse Critical Access	Central line infections: not reported. Catheter UTIs: not reported. Colon surgery infections: not reported. Hysterectomy infections: not reported. MRSA: not reported. C. diff: no different from national.	0 better · 0 worse of 1 compared	Not compared

All North Dakota hospitals North Dakota star ratings North Dakota patient ratings North Dakota ER wait times

How North Dakota compares with its neighbors

Rank	State	Infection index	Worse on 1+ infection	Complications worse
#5	North Dakota	0.82	0% (0 of 10)	0
#7	South Dakota	0.83	0% (0 of 11)	0
#23	Minnesota	1.02	0% (0 of 62)	0
#36	Montana	1.11	8% (1 of 13)	3

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 North Dakota hospital safety

Which North Dakota hospitals are better than national on infections?

5 North Dakota hospitals were better than national on at least one infection and worse on none, led by Sanford Medical Center Fargo (Fargo), Altru Health System (Grand Forks), Essentia Health-Fargo (Fargo), Sanford Medical Center Bismarck (Bismarck), Trinity Hospitals (Minot).

How does North Dakota compare with other states on hospital infections?

North Dakota ranks #5 of 50 states on HospitalsInEachState.com's infection index (lower is better), at 0.82. Averaged across the infections with enough data, its hospitals reported about 18% fewer infections than U.S. hospitals overall, relative to what CMS predicts. 0 of 10 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 North Dakota hospital directory.

Use this data

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

Suggested citation

<a href="https://www.hospitalsineachstate.com/hospital-safety/north-dakota/">North Dakota hospital infection and safety ratings</a> - HospitalsInEachState.com analysis of CMS data (Oct 2024 – Sep 2025)

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.