When we are at our most vulnerable, we depend on the quality of care in hospitals to help us through. Between the facilities, the care, and the people, so much is on the line and all of those combined can make the difference between life and death, or between health and further illness.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services performed their annual analysis of hospitals across the country, and five Arizona hospitals received the highest five-star quality rating in their most recent annual update. And what should be little surprise to anyone who has been there, our very own HonorHealth Thompson Peak medical center in Scottsdale was one of those five that receive the coveted five-star ranking.
Their star system is based on 46 measures in five categories: mortality, patient experience, readmission, safety of care, and timely and effective care. Top-rated five-star hospitals in Arizona represented 10% of the 51 Medicare- certified Arizona hospitals that received ratings. Six hospitals − about 12% of the Arizona hospitals included in the ratings − got the worst one-star scores in the updated analysis.
A notable finding? One Scottsdale hospital (Abrazo) received the lowly one-star ranking, and only two other hospitals in the Valley received five stars (Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix and City of Hope Cancer Center Phoenix in Goodyear).
On the whole, Arizona performed about on par with the rest of the country, but apparently the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has rather high criteria for their rankings; nationally half of the hospitals that were ranked had one or two stars. It is hard not to feel even better about HonorHealth’s quality of service given this.
Scottsdale already has a world-class hospital in HonorHealth that holds exemplary ratings in all aspects of care, so when conversations related to building a new hospital, we have to wonder why. Why cannibalize from a hospital that is already world-class when the need isn’t there? It just doesn’t make any sense. Perhaps the conversation needs to be had about how to improve Abrazo’s unfortunate score.