The latest quality ratings published by the federal government have left a rather uneven picture of New York’s hospital system. As the state prepares to face new cuts in Medicaid funding, not all hospitals are in the same position… Some come out very well. Others, not so much. Wow.
In total, 132 hospitals in New York received their score on August 6. Only 12 of them got the highest rating: five stars. That is, barely 9% of the total. For comparison, the national average is 10%, so we’re slightly below.
But the most striking part is what happens at the opposite end. There are 29 hospitals (29!!!!) that received just one star, the lowest possible rating, it is awful!! That means almost one in five hospitals, what’s going on with our city? Of course, that figure is quite far from the national average, where only 8% fall into that lowest category.
What does this rating mean?
The stars are given by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). They rate hospitals based on five areas: mortality, patient safety, readmissions, patient experience, and timely and effective care. With all that, they assign a score from 1 to 5 stars.
The goal is for anyone to be able to check, theoretically in a clear way, how well their nearest hospital is doing. For example, if a hospital has many readmissions after a heart attack or pneumonia, that lowers its score. Same if there are problems with wait times or safety in care. Do you understand it?
Here’s how the hospitals did by region
The data includes hospitals in areas like Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, Southern Tier, and Mohawk Valley. Some centers were not rated because they did not have enough registered data.
Finger Lakes
- FF Thompson (Canandaigua): 2 stars
- Geneva General (Geneva): 1 star
- Highland (Rochester): 1 star
- Noyes Memorial (Dansville): 3 stars
- Rochester General: 1 star
- Strong Memorial (Rochester): 2 stars
- Unity (Rochester): 1 star
Hudson Valley
- Bon Secours (Port Jervis): 2 stars
- Columbia Memorial (Hudson): 2 stars
- Garnet Health (Middletown): 3 stars
- Good Samaritan (Suffern): 2 stars
- HealthAlliance Mary’s Avenue (Kingston): 2 stars
- Hudson Valley Hospital (Cortlandt Manor): 4 stars
- New Rochelle: 1 star
- Nyack: 2 stars
- Northern Dutchess (Rhinebeck): 4 stars
- Northern Westchester (Mount Kisco): 5 stars
- Phelps (Sleepy Hollow): 3 stars
- Putnam Hospital (Carmel): 3 stars
- St. Anthony (Warwick): 5 stars
- St. Luke’s Cornwall (Newburgh): 3 stars
- St. John’s Riverside (Yonkers): 2 stars
- St. Joseph (Yonkers): 1 star
- VA Hudson Valley (Montrose): 5 stars
- Vassar Brothers (Poughkeepsie): 3 stars
- Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla): 1 star
- White Plains Hospital: 5 stars
Southern Tier
- Arnot Ogden (Elmira): 1 star
- Cayuga Medical Center (Ithaca): 3 stars
- Corning Hospital: 3 stars
- Lourdes Memorial (Binghamton): 2 stars
- St. James (Hornell): 2 stars
- United Health Services (Binghamton): 2 stars
Mohawk Valley
- Nathan Littauer (Gloversville): 2 stars
- Oneida Health: 3 stars
- Rome Memorial: 1 star
- St. Mary’s (Amsterdam): 2 stars
- Wynn Hospital: 1 star
A complicated situation
This kind of report comes at a delicate moment. Hospitals in New York are dealing with economic uncertainty, especially due to cuts in federal Medicaid funding. That means less money to operate, just when the demands are getting higher and higher.
Meanwhile, some hospitals are weathering the storm much better than others. But when one in five hospitals in the state gets the lowest rating, the system as a whole has things to review.