About 1 in 5 general hospitals in Colorado large enough to qualify will be penalized by the federal government this year because of infections and injuries that patients picked up while receiving care during a six-month period before the pandemic.
About one in five general hospitals in Colorado large enough to qualify will be penalized by the federal government this year because of infections and injuries that patients picked up while receiving care during a six-month period before the pandemic.
That works out to 22% of eligible Colorado hospitals taking a penalty, which would rank the state 18th in the country. The top- and bottom-ranking states have only a handful of eligible hospitals, though, which limits the value of the national rankings. All of the hospitals penalized in 2022 had been hit at least once before. Three have taken a penalty five or more times in the eight years the program has existed: Boulder Community Health, St. Anthony Hospital and University of Colorado Hospital.