VA Black Hills receive top marks in 2026 CMS report

  

Fort Meade and Hot Springs, SD — VA Black Hills Health Care System announced today that it received a 5-star rating in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ annual Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating report. This is the highest CMS rating a hospital can receive and is an improvement from a 4 star rating last year.  

  

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 Spencer Mion, Director of VA Black Hills Health Care System. “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.”

 

Nationwide, 78% of VA hospitals that received a rating received an Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating of four or five stars in 2026.

 

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 Tom Johnson- Public Affairs Officer at Thomas.johnson4@va.gov or 605-490-8014.  

 

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.