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critical access hospital

What is a critical access hospital?

What is a critical access hospital?

The Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation is given by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to rural hospitals that meet various eligibility criteria, including (among other factors)1

  • providing round-the-clock emergency care
  • being in a rural area more than 35 miles from another hospital (or more than 15 miles in some areas, depending on the roads),
  • having no more than 25 inpatient beds

Hospitals that have the CAH designation receive certain benefits under the Medicare payment system,2 in an effort to reduce the financial vulnerability of these hospitals and ensure that rural communities continue to have access to local hospital services.3

How many critical access hospitals are there?

As of April 2025, there were 1,377 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States.4 For perspective, there are a total of more than 6,000 hospitals in the U.S., so most are not Critical Access Hospitals5 (although the majority of rural hospitals are CAHs)6 Find a CAH.

 

 

Footnotes
  1. ”Critical Access Hospitals” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Accessed June 29, 2025 ⤶
  2. ”Information for Critical Access Hospitals” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Accessed June 29, 2025 ⤶
  3. ”Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)” Rural Health Information Hub. Accessed June 29, 2025 ⤶
  4. ”Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs): How many CAHs are there and where are they located?” Rural Health Information Hub. Accessed June 29, 2025 ⤶
  5. ”Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals, 2025” American Hospital Association. June 29, 2025 ⤶
  6. ”Critical Access Hospitals Payment System” MedPAC. Oct. 2024 ⤶

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