Bacterial culture (wound) cost in Salem, OR
In Salem, OR, 4 hospitals list a cash price for bacterial culture of a sample other than urine, blood or stool (wound, throat, fluid): from $9.10 to $133.39, with a median of $34.98. The lowest listed price is at Legacy Silverton Medical Center — $25.88 less than the median here. Across Oregon, the median is $52.38 at 47 hospitals.
Cash prices at 4 facilities across 4 cities for code 87070, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Aug 6, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Salem, OR.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy Silverton Medical Center lowest Silverton, OR · (503) 873-1500 HC CULTURE BACTERIAL ORGANISM ID File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $9.10 | $14.00 | — | 35% |
| Legacy Silverton Medical Center Silverton, OR · (503) 873-1500 HC CULT AEROBIC+1 more line at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $14.85 | $22.85 | — | 35% |
| Legacy Silverton Medical Center Silverton, OR · (503) 873-1500 HC CULTURE AEROBIC File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $16.96 | $26.10 | — | 35% |
| Salem Hospital Salem, OR · (503) 561-5200 HCHRG CULTURE AEROBIC+1 more line at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $34.98 | $66.00 | — | 47% |
| West Valley Hospital Dallas, OR · (503) 623-8301 HCHRG CULTURE AEROBIC+1 more line at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $34.98 | $66.00 | — | 47% |
| Legacy Silverton Medical Center Silverton, OR · (503) 873-1500 HC CULTURE BACTERIAL ORGANISM ID File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $52.65 | $81.00 | — | 35% |
| Legacy Silverton Medical Center Silverton, OR · (503) 873-1500 HC CULTURE AEROBIC File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $97.50 | $150.00 | — | 35% |
| Legacy Silverton Medical Center Silverton, OR · (503) 873-1500 HC CULT AEROBIC+1 more line at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $101.40 | $156.00 | — | 35% |
| Santiam Memorial Hospital Stayton, OR · (503) 769-2175 Bacterial culture, any other source except urine, blood or stool, aerobic File of Aug 6, 2026 · source file | $133.39 | $133.39 | $8.62–$126.72 | — |
| Legacy Silverton Medical Center Silverton, OR · (503) 873-1500 HC CULTURE ENVIRONMENTAL+1 more line at this price File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $169.00 | $260.00 | — | 35% |
Outpatient: lowest $9.10, median $34.98, highest $133.39 — a 14.7× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 3 facilities here, median $34.98. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
Cash or insurance?
At the one hospital here that publishes insurer rates for this code, the cash price is not below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What it is
A bacterial culture grows bacteria from a sample such as a wound, throat swab, eye or fluid to find which germ causes an infection. It takes one to three days.
What the price covers
The price usually covers running the test; collecting the sample may be billed separately.
2 rows held back from this comparison
They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 87070 ($87.04). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Hospital | Cash price | File |
|---|---|---|
| Legacy Silverton Medical Center Silverton, ORHC CULTURE PHARMACEUTICALS | $5.92 | file |
| Legacy Silverton Medical Center Silverton, ORHC CULTURE ENVIRONMENTAL | $6.09 | file |