Thursday, April 2, 2026

Utah Hospitals Rated Five-Star in CMS Patient Surveys

Patient surveys conducted by the CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) aim to gauge user satisfaction with recent stays at hospitals that treat Medicare and Medicaid enrollees. The CMS survey solicits feedback from recent patients about their inpatient stays, then aggregates those responses into a unified patient satisfaction rating on a 1 to 5-star scale, with 5-stars being the scale's best score.  Based on the most current CMS patient surveys, only three Utah hospitals earned a five-star rating from patients.  Listed alphabetically, here are the hospitals in Utah that rated as five-stars for patient experience according to CMS surveys (as of March 30, 2026):

Utah Hospitals Rated Five-Star in CMS Patient Surveys

  1. Cache Valley Hospital
    Location:  North Logan
    View Rating Details

  2. Cedar City Hospital
    Location:  Cedar City
    View Rating Details

  3. Intermountain Health Heber Valley Hospital
    Location:  Heber City
    View Rating Details

The CMS also rates the quality of care delivered at Medicare and Medicaid participating hospitals.  While only three Utah hospitals rated five-stars with patients, nine earned five-star ratings for quality from the CMS.  For a look at which Utah hospitals rate high for quality, check out Five Star Quality Acute Care Hospitals in Utah.


Wednesday, April 1, 2026

MRI Technologist Pay in the Rocky Mountain Region

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) most current occupational employment estimates put the number of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) technologists at work in the United States at more than 41,000 as of May 2024.  At that time, the five-state Rocky Mountain region had an estimated 1,320 working MRI technologists according to BLS figures.  In general, the Rocky Mountain region was a good one for MRI technologist pay, as nearly 84% of the region's MRI technologists lived in a state that recorded an annual mean wage level for the profession that was higher than the national average.  A closer examination of May 2024 BLS data provides the following state-level details about MRI technologist pay in the Rocky Mountain region:

MRI Technologist Pay in the Rocky Mountain Region

MRI Technologist Pay in the Rocky Mountain Region



State # Employed Annual Mean Wages Wage Rank*
CO 690 $97,79016th
ID 120 $100,00 12th
MT 120 $83,830 30th
UT 310 $91,740 22nd
WY 80 $85,850 28th
U.S. 41,560 $89,999 -------

(*) annual mean wage ranking among the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data accessed on April 1, 2026