CMS Rates Mercy Hospitals Highest in Area

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released its latest hospital ratings, and Mercy Hospital Fort Smith and Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas in Rogers received the highest ratings in the region, a four-star rating and a five-star rating, respectively.

The five-star rating earned by Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas is the highest given by CMS, which re-evaluates hospitals annually using more than 100 measures divided into seven categories: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, effectiveness of care, timeliness of care and effective use of medical imaging. 

“Five stars means Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas is performing at the highest level for patients who entrust their care to us,” said Mercy Hospital NWA President Eric Pianalto. “We’re proud of this achievement, and we congratulate every co-worker who helps make Mercy Hospital great.”

Just 407 hospitals in the United States and four in Arkansas received CMS’ five-star rating.

Ryan Gehrig, president of Mercy Hospital Fort Smith, said Mercy works diligently to keep patients safe and provides them with highest quality health care in the River Valley.

"This is a reflection of the dedicated and compassionate physicians and co-workers at Mercy who continuously seek ways to deliver a safer and better experience for our patients,” Gehrig said. “We are very proud of this accomplishment, and we remain relentless in our pursuit to get health care right.”

The hospitals’ top ratings come on the heels of both receiving an “A” safety grade from The Leapfrog Group last fall. In addition, IBM Watson Health has named Mercy Health System a top five large U.S. health system and designated Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas a Top 100 Hospital in 2019.

Learn more about Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas’ rating here and Mercy Hospital Fort Smith’s rating here. For more information about CMS’ Hospital Compare, click here.