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Top Hospitals Ranked for Patient Safety
22 Mar
Summary
- 438 hospitals nationwide recognized for patient safety excellence.
- Texas, Florida, California lead with most top-performing hospitals.
- Award-winning facilities show significantly lower patient safety risks.
Hundreds of hospitals across the United States have been honored for exceptional patient safety. Healthgrades' 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Award identified 438 hospitals in 40 states that rank in the top 10% nationally for preventing serious complications during hospital stays. These facilities demonstrated superior performance across 13 patient safety indicators.
Texas, Florida, California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania reported the highest number of recognized hospitals, a trend potentially linked to their larger hospital systems. Patients at these award-winning institutions faced substantially reduced risks for common, severe safety events. For example, they were over 50% less likely to experience fractures from falls or develop collapsed lungs during procedures.
These top-tier hospitals also showed significantly lower rates of catheter-related bloodstream infections and pressure sores. Healthgrades estimates that if all hospitals matched this safety level, over 100,000 patient safety events could have been prevented between 2022 and 2024. While many states show strong safety performance, ten states and the District of Columbia had no hospitals on the recognized list, possibly due to factors like rural shortages.
