Palomar Medical Center PowayPoway, CA
- Time ZonePST
- CountySan Diego
- Emergency CapableYes
- FIPS6073
- Area Code858
Quality and performance
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · data as of July 2026
Patients spend an average of 3 hours 20 minutes in the emergency department at Palomar Medical Center Poway. That is 17 minutes longer than the California average of 3 hours 3 minutes.
Source: CMS Hospital General Information and Timely & Effective Care. Wait times are a median over a past 12-month reporting period, not live data. Not affiliated with CMS or with Palomar Medical Center Poway. For a medical emergency, call 911.
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What patients say
CMS patient survey (HCAHPS) · 635 completed surveys · patients discharged Oct 2024 – Sep 2025
Patients gave Palomar Medical Center Poway a 2-star patient experience rating out of 5. 61% would definitely recommend it (U.S. average 71%). 59% rated it 9 or 10 out of 10.
The patient survey (HCAHPS) asks a random sample of adult patients about their recent hospital stay. CMS adjusts the results for the mix of patients and how the survey was done, so hospitals can be compared fairly. About the data.
Infections, complications and deaths
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · compared with hospitals nationwide
Palomar Medical Center Poway was no different from the national benchmark on all 3 hospital-acquired infections CMS could compare. Its rate of serious complications was same as national.
Hospital-acquired infections
Serious complications
Death rates within 30 days
| Patients treated for | This hospital | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Heart failure patients | 9.6% | 11.1% |
| Pneumonia patients | 10.9% | 15.2% |
| Stroke patients | 11.3% | 11.9% |
| COPD patients | 9.5% | 8.6% |
| Hospital-wide, all conditions | 3.7% | 3.9% |
Risk-adjusted rates. CMS has not published a statistical better/worse comparison for these death rates in the current release, so small differences from the U.S. rate may be chance.
Other complications
None of the other safety indicators CMS compares was statistically better or worse than national.
All 11 complication measures
| Measure | This hospital | U.S. | CMS comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complications after hip or knee replacement% of patients | 4 | 4.1 | Not compared |
| Pressure ulcers (bed sores)per 1,000 patients | 0.65 | 0.63 | Same as national |
| Falls in the hospital that caused a broken boneper 1,000 patients | 0.25 | 0.27 | Same as national |
| Collapsed lung caused by a medical procedureper 1,000 patients | 0.25 | 0.21 | Same as national |
| Bleeding or blood clot under the skin after surgeryper 1,000 patients | 2.18 | 2.34 | Same as national |
| Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgeryper 1,000 patients | 1.64 | 1.67 | Same as national |
| Respiratory failure after surgeryper 1,000 patients | 7.89 | 9.42 | Same as national |
| Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgeryper 1,000 patients | 3.41 | 3.52 | Same as national |
| Bloodstream infection (sepsis) after surgeryper 1,000 patients | 4.9 | 5.27 | Same as national |
| Surgical wound splitting openper 1,000 patients | 1.72 | 1.77 | Same as national |
| Accidental cuts or tears during abdominal surgeryper 1,000 patients | 0.94 | 1.06 | Same as national |
"Better" or "worse" means CMS found the difference from the national benchmark statistically significant; most hospitals are "no different". Infection results compare the infections a hospital reported with the number predicted for a hospital of its size and type (a ratio below 1 means fewer than predicted), for Oct 2024 – Sep 2025. Death and complication rates are risk-adjusted for how sick patients were. Each death rate counts deaths within 30 days of a hospital stay, pooled over one to three years of Medicare patients depending on the measure. About the data.