VA Maine Healthcare System receives a double five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

On Wednesday, July 31, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for 2024. VA Maine received a five-star rating in both overall quality and patient satisfaction. They rated over 215 hospitals in New England. We are proud to be one of only two hospitals in New England to receive a double five-star rating. The only other hospital in New England to receive double five-star rating is also a VA hospital: VA White River Junction Health Care | Veterans Affairs.

“This is another great testament to the outstanding work being done by our dedicated staff at VA Maine,” said VA Maine Medical Center Director, Ms. Tracye B. Davis.

Nationally, VA hospitals continue to outperform non-VA hospitals on both CMS’ Overall Star Rating and their quarterly patient satisfaction survey: 

• Patient Satisfaction Survey: VA outperformed non-VA hospitals in the most recent CMS Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) star ratings, with 79% of VA facilities receiving a summary star rating of 4 or 5 stars compared to 40% of non-VA hospitals. This represents the ninth consecutive quarter in which VA facilities have outperformed non-VA counterparts.
• Hospital Quality Ratings: In this year’s CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings, more than 58% of VA hospitals included received 4- or 5-star ratings compared to 40% of non-VA hospitals. This is only the second year VA hospitals have been included in this review, and  VA has outperformed non-VA health care in both years. 

These findings come at a time when Veteran trust in VA outpatient care has reached an all-time record high of 92%, based on a survey of more than 440,000 Veterans. Additionally, these findings are consistent with a recent systematic review that found that VA health care is consistently as good as — or better than — non-VA health care.

VA is committed to delivering the timely, world-class health care Veterans deserve and will stop at nothing less. The overall rating — as well as ratings on specific quality and satisfaction measures — of VA hospitals can be found via CMS’ Care Compare tool. 

Jason Carter, Public Affairs Officer