RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Western South Dakota hospitals saw a wide range of outcomes in the newly released 2026 federal quality ratings, with one local facility claiming the nation’s highest honor while another slid backward after years of steady progress.
The annual Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings, released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), grade nearly 3,000 hospitals nationwide on a scale of one to five stars. The federal agency evaluates 46 distinct quality measures across five main categories: mortality, safety of care, readmission rates, patient experiences, and timely, effective care.
For KOTA Territory, the local results tell three very different stories.
Sturgis VA Clinches 5-Star Rating
Topping the list for the region is the VA Healthcare System in Sturgis. The facility climbed to a perfect 5-star rating this year, up from its 4-star status in 2025. It joins only four other medical centers statewide to receive the top federal grade.
Mixed News for Monument Health Systems
Further south, Monument Health’s flagship hospital in Rapid City experienced a setback, slipping to a 3-star “average” rating. The facility had previously made a dramatic climb from a 1-star rating in 2023 up to a 4-star rating in 2025.
Hospital officials emphasized that the slip does not represent the current state of care. Melissa Haught, Director of Communications at Monument Health, noted that much of the CMS data lags behind by several years, relying heavily on metrics from 2023 and 2024.
“Many of our quality outcomes remain strong and continue to improve,” Haught said, highlighting reductions in hospital-acquired infections and hip surgery complications. “Rapid City Hospital performs better than the national average on seven of the 11 measures included in CMS’s hospital readmissions domain.”
Meanwhile, Monument Health in Spearfish debuted on this year’s list with a strong 4-star “above average” rating. The Spearfish facility did not receive a rating in 2025 because it did not meet the minimum patient count thresholds required for federal reporting.
Healthcare Leaders Urge Broader Perspective
Tim Rave, CEO of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations, called the federal star ratings an “important benchmark” but cautioned against using them as a single source of judgment.
“While the overall star rating provides helpful information for consumers, hospital leaders rely on much more detailed data to identify opportunities for improvement,” Rave said. “A single overall rating cannot fully capture the complexity of caring for diverse patient populations, the broad range of services hospitals provide, or the unique role each hospital plays.”
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