Fort Harrison VA Medical Hospital Given 4-Star Quality Rating

Montana VA Health Care System is pleased to announce that the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center was recognized as an Overall 4-Star Hospital Quality rating on June 26 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  

This is the first time CMS has included VA facilities in their annual Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings. The CMS serves the public as a trusted partner and steward, dedicated to advancing health equity, expanding coverage and improving health outcomes.  

“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, Interim Medical Center Director for the Montana VA Health Care System. “Our staff should be proud that their hard work and dedication to serving Montana Veterans is being recognized. This is not the recognition of a single day or single event. This four-star rating validates the efforts of every staff member and volunteer who serves Montana’s Veterans every day.”  

The CMS uses five categories – mortality, safety of care, re-admission, patient experience, and timely and effective care – to award a quality rating for each hospital. The more stars (out of 5), the better a hospital performed on the available quality measures.  

Overall, 67 percent of VA hospitals included in the CMS annual Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings received either four or five stars, compared to only 41 percent of non-VA hospitals. These findings are the latest in a series of recent evaluations showing the effectiveness of VA health care compared to non-VA health care.  

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 serves over 47,000 enrolled Veterans across Montana—an area roughly 147,000 square miles in size. Veterans are cared for by 1,500 staff at 18 sites of care across the state.  One third of Montana VA employees are Veterans.     

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Matthew Rosine, Public Affairs Specialist

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Katie (Catherine) Beall, VISN-19 Newsroom Chief

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