The Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center receive top marks in 2026 CMS Report for Third Year in a Row

The Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center announced today that it received a 5-star rating in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ annual Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating report. A sustainment of the same star rating received in 2025 as part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 2025.

CMS’ Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings are based on five categories: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, and timely and effective care. A higher star rating, out of five, indicates better performance along these quality measures.

“Receiving a 5-star rating from CMS is a reflection of the dedication our entire team brings to caring for Veterans every day,” said Karen Flaherty-Oxler, director of the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center. “This rating underscores our commitment to delivering safe, timely and high-quality care, and we are proud to contribute to VA’s continued nationwide excellence.”

Within the last few years, the Corporal Crescenz VA Medical Center has instituted a number of improvements to better serve Veterans. These include: Safety of Care, Mortality, Readmission, Patient Experience and Timely and Effective Care. Overall, the hospital was rated better or similar to care in the community. Areas in which the hospital outperformed the community were in communication with doctors, communication with medicines, care transition, as well as lower mortality rates in patients with heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia.

"These ratings highlight the excellent care the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center provides our Veterans,” said Karen Flaherty-Oxler, medical center director. “Our job is to continue raising the bar for customer service and convenience throughout, so that our hospital and all of our other locations continue to provide the highest quality care for our Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors we are charged with serving.”

Nationwide, 78% of VA hospitals that received a rating received an Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating of four or five stars in 2026, and no VA hospitals received a one-star rating.  More than 90% of VA hospitals with ratings maintained or improved their 2024-star rating.

This is the fourth consecutive year that VA has outperformed non-VA care, and the second year in a row that no VA hospital received a one-star rating. The percentage of VA hospitals receiving four or five stars has grown dramatically in the last two years:

• 2023, 67%
• 2024, 58%
• 2025, 77%
• 2026, 78%

View the star ratings for each facility and methodology for the ratings.

For more information, please contact Rita Chappelle at Rita.Chappelle@va.gov or . 

This year’s CMS report is just one example of how VA is working better for Veterans. Among other improvements, VA has:

• Enrolled more than 125,000 new Veterans in VA health care in 2026.
• Opened 35 new VA health care facilities since Jan. 20, 2025, expanding health care access for Veterans around the country.
• Reduced the backlog of Veterans waiting for VA benefits by 70% since Jan. 20, 2025, after it increased 24% during the prior administration.
• Completed 82,083,918 direct care appointments in FY2025, up 4.1% from FY2024.
• Offered Veterans more than 2.5 million appointments outside of normal operating hours, giving Veterans more timely and convenient options for care.
• Permanently housed 51,936 homeless Veterans across the country in FY2025, the highest total in seven years.

Rita Chappelle, Public Affairs Officer

Phone: