Fort Harrison VA Medical Center Earns 4-Star and 5-Star Ratings

“The Montana VA is a championship team with one focus – providing the greatest health care to the world’s greatest patients,” said Duane B. Gill, Executive Director for the Montana VA Health Care System. “Our staff should be proud that their hard work and dedication to serving Montana Veterans has been recognized, again. This is not the recognition of a single day or single event. These 4-Star and 5-Star ratings validate the efforts of every staff member and volunteer who serves our Veterans every day of the year.”

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.

Medicare recognized the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center with an Overall 4-Star Hospital Quality rating in 2023 -- the first year they evaluated VA hospitals. The CMS serves the public as a trusted partner and steward, dedicated to advancing health equity, expanding coverage and improving health outcomes.

The organization annually assigns star ratings to hospitals across the nation on 46 hospital quality measures, which are divided into five quality categories. The CMS awards Overall Star Ratings to hospitals based on five categories: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, and timely and effective care. The CMS’ HCAHPS summary star ratings combine information across ten measures of patient experience, including staff communication and responsiveness, hospital environment, willingness to recommend the hospital, and overall hospital rating. This year’s Overall Star Ratings are based on data collected between July 2019 and March 2023, and this quarter’s HCAHPS star ratings are based on data collected between October 2022 and September 2023.

According to the Patient Satisfaction Survey, the VA outperformed non-VA hospitals in the most recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems 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.

According to the Hospital Quality Ratings, 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. 

VA hospitals outperformed non-VA hospitals on all 10 core patient satisfaction metrics in the recent Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Star Ratings, and a recent systematic review of more than 40 peer-reviewed studies found that VA health care is consistently as good as — or better than — non-VA health care. 

Montana VA Health Care System serves over 49,000 enrolled Veterans across Montana—an area roughly 147,000 square miles in size. Veterans are cared for by a staff of 1,400 at 18 sites of care across the state.  One third of Montana VA employees are Veterans.  

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