Charleston VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC

Infections, complications and deaths

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · compared with hospitals nationwide

Charleston VA Medical Center was no different from the national benchmark on all 2 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

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 12 complication measures

Measure	This hospital	U.S.	CMS comparison
Complications after hip or knee replacement% of patients	3.2	4.1	Not compared
Deaths among surgical patients with serious treatable complicationsper 1,000 patients	156.43	173.3	Same as national
Pressure ulcers (bed sores)per 1,000 patients	0.17	0.63	Same as national
Falls in the hospital that caused a broken boneper 1,000 patients	0.21	0.27	Same as national
Collapsed lung caused by a medical procedureper 1,000 patients	0.17	0.21	Same as national
Bleeding or blood clot under the skin after surgeryper 1,000 patients	1.88	2.34	Same as national
Kidney injury needing dialysis after surgeryper 1,000 patients	1.33	1.67	Same as national
Respiratory failure after surgeryper 1,000 patients	9.87	9.42	Same as national
Blood clots in the lungs or legs after surgeryper 1,000 patients	2.44	3.52	Same as national
Bloodstream infection (sepsis) after surgeryper 1,000 patients	5.07	5.27	Same as national
Surgical wound splitting openper 1,000 patients	1.62	1.77	Same as national
Accidental cuts or tears during abdominal surgeryper 1,000 patients	0.84	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.

Readmissions and return visits

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · Medicare patients · Jul 2023 – Jun 2025

Back in the hospital within 30 days

Return trips after a stay or procedure

Readmission rates count Medicare patients who were admitted to any acute-care hospital within 30 days of leaving this one, adjusted for how sick they were. "Better" or "worse" means CMS found the difference from the national rate statistically significant; most hospitals are "no different". Return-day and outpatient-surgery measures compare the hospital with what CMS expected for its own patients. The Readmissions Reduction Program ratios are shown as CMS publishes them; whether a hospital's payments are reduced depends on how its ratios compare with similar hospitals, so a ratio above 1.00 alone doesn't mean a penalty. About the data.

Timely and effective care

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · all patients unless noted · Oct 2024 – Sep 2025

Charleston VA Medical Center's emergency department is classed by CMS as medium volume.

CMS publishes these process-of-care measures without a better/worse verdict, so the U.S. figure is shown for context; small differences, or results based on few patients, may not mean much. *Median of all hospitals CMS reports, where CMS publishes no national figure. About the data.

The area around Charleston VA Medical Center

HRSA shortage designations and BLS pay data

Mental health: Parts of Charleston are federally designated health professional shortage areas (1 designation). Highest shortage score 13.

Nurse pay: registered nurses in South Carolina earn a median $82,360 a year. Healthcare salaries in South Carolina.

Shortage areas are designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration where there are too few primary care, mental health or dental providers for the population; scores run from 0 to 25 for primary and mental health care and 0 to 26 for dental care, higher meaning greater need. South Carolina shortage areas