Critical Access Hospitals

The CMS Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation is given to eligible rural hospitals by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The CAH designation is designed to reduce the financial vulnerability of rural hospitals and improve access to healthcare by keeping essential services in rural communities.

• Federal criteria for eligibility in the Critical Access Hospital Program
• RHIhub review of Critical Access Hospitals

To operate as a licensed critical access hospital, all CAHs receive an annual survey from an authorized organization to ensure they are meeting CMS regulatory standards. CAHs can download and use the Critical Access Hospital Survey Preparation Tool as a planning resource to prepare for this survey.

• Critical Access Hospital Survey Preparation Tool, 2024 (PDF)

User experience feedback is requested and highly encouraged! Please send any comments to health.flex@state.mn.us. Feedback will be incorporated into the next update of this tool.

Critical Access Hospitals list

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