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Atlanta VA Health Care System achieves milestone in latest CMS hospital ratings

Blue ribbon with three stars

By Chanel M. Cook, Chief of Communications

Atlanta VA Health Care System has achieved a significant milestone – earning a three-star rating as part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 2025 hospital quality ratings.

This recognition underscores our commitment to providing high-quality care to Veterans.

CMS’s hospital ratings are based on five categories: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience and timely and effective care. A higher star rating, out of 5, indicates better performance on these quality measures.

Over the past year, Atlanta VAHCS has instituted a number of improvements to better serve Veterans. These include:

  • Mortality: We continue our commitment and efforts to decrease mortality and care transition disease cohorts, specifically the rates for congestive heart failure, pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This has contributed to AVHACS being deemed amongst the top performers, ranking #1.
  • Safety of Care: Over the past year, Atlanta VAHCS has demonstrated a remarkable journey of improvement in safe quality care tracking and reporting. From being ranked 89th, we have now soared to the 22nd position across the VHA spectrum, instilling a sense of security and confidence in our patients and their families.
  • Readmission scores indicate Atlanta VAHCS is among the VA's top 20% of all facilities for having a low hospital-wide readmission rate for all causes.  Our hospital's readmission rate maintains its 45th rank among other complex facilities of similar size.
  • Patient Experience: Our Veteran Trust scores, consistently exceeding 86 percent, are a testament to the trust and confidence our local Veterans place in Atlanta VAHCS for their healthcare needs. This high level of satisfaction reflects our commitment to providing excellent care and making our patients feel valued and appreciated.
  • Timely and Effective Care: Our priority is to increase the availability of new appointments in-house, rather than in the community. Mental Health access to care is improving, ranking as a top contender at #30. At the same time, Primary Care providers have made significant efforts in revamping appointment availability, with an average wait time of 40.4 days, aiming to reduce it to under 20 days. 

"These ratings highlight the excellent care Atlanta VAHCS provides," said Kai D. Mentzer, Executive Director. "Our job is to continue raising the bar for customer service and convenience throughout the department, so Atlanta VAHCS works better for the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors we are charged with serving."

As part of CMS’s 2025 ratings, 77% of VA hospitals that received an Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating received 4 or 5 stars, and no VA hospitals received a one-star rating. More than 90% of VA hospitals with ratings maintained or improved their 2024-star rating.

View the star ratings and methodology for the ratings.