Fourteen hospitals on Long Island\u00a0received the top grade for their quality of care, according to an annual\u00a0federal\u00a0report\u00a0released\u00a0Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0hospitals represent more than half of the Long Island healthcare centers rated on a five-star scale by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services<\/a> (CMS), which provides healthcare to millions of Americans.<\/p>\n Three hospitals received four stars and one hospital, Nassau University Medical Center, received\u00a0one star.\u00a0<\/p>\n CMS rates more than 4,000 Medicare-certified hospitals across the United States\u00a0on their mortality rates, safety, speed, effectiveness and a patient\u2019s experience and readmission rates, according to the agency<\/a>. Nationally, just 12% of hospitals achieve a five-star rating.<\/p>\n WHAT NEWSDAY FOUNDIn an annual report, more than half of Long Island hospitals rated by a federal agency scored top grades.Only one hospital, Nassau University Medical Center, received one out of five stars from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.The reliable, federal data offers patients a look into specific hospital practices, but patients need to also consider their doctor’s advice and their insurance coverage.<\/p>\n CMS\u2019\u00a0star system has \u201cone of the highest levels of rigor\u201d of hospital data nationwide, said Kathy Rauch, the vice president of quality advocacy, research and innovation and post-acute care at the Healthcare Association of New York State, which represents health systems and hospitals. Federal data helps inform other ratings systems, such as Healthgrades and Leapfrog<\/a>, Newsday reported.<\/p>\n These ratings can help Long Islanders make a decision about where to get care, hospital executives and experts said. They’re also a powerful marketing tool,\u00a0said Vikas Saini, president of the Needham, Massachusetts-based Lown Institute<\/a>, a health policy think tank that has its own ratings system.<\/p>\n But many patients may not even be aware of the federal data, or have much choice in what hospital to attend, Saini added.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe number of people who both have the time and the circumstances of their illness to allow them to do this [research] \u2014 that’s a very small number,\u201d Saini said.<\/p>\n Long Island\u2019s report card<\/p>\n Four Long Island\u00a0hospitals in Northwell Health\u2019s network got five-star ratings: Glen Cove, Huntington, Mather and Manhasset-based North Shore University hospitals.<\/p>\n Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park\u00a0and Plainview Hospital, also Northwell Hospitals,\u00a0received four stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that we have so many five star hospitals out of that group is\u00a0really phenomenal,\u201d said Peter Silver, chief quality officer and a senior vice president for Northwell Health.<\/p>\n Four hospitals in the Catholic Health’s network got\u00a0five stars: St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center in Flower Hill Village, St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, St. Catherine of Siena Hospital in Smithtown and Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre.<\/p>\n St. Charles, St. Catherine and Mercy\u00a0all moved up from four stars last year<\/a>, said Jason Golbin, chief medical officer at Catholic Health.<\/p>\n CMS rates NYU Langone’s Manhattan, Brooklyn\u00a0and Mineola hospitals together, and the trio got\u00a0five stars. NYU Langone Hospital\u2014 Suffolk in East\u00a0Patchogue received four stars \u2014 a jump from two stars\u00a0a year ago, according to CMS data.<\/p>\n The East\u00a0Patchogue hospital was previously Long Island Community Hospital, which completed a merger with Langone<\/a> in 2025, Newsday reported.<\/p>\n The network has invested more than $100 million in the hospital, said Dr. Marc Adler, senior vice president and chief of hospital operations for NYU Langone Hospital \u2014Suffolk. It\u00a0also increased its staff by 16% since the March 2025 merger, growing to more than 2,400 employees, according to the health system.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stony Brook University’s three hospitals on Long Island in Stony Brook, Greenport and Southampton, which CMS rates together, also\u00a0received five stars, up from four stars last year.\u00a0It\u2019s the first time the healthcare system has received five stars, said Dr. Eric J. Morley, the chief quality officer for Stony Brook University Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nassau University Medical Center was the only Long Island hospital to score a one-star rating, the same as last year,\u00a0according to CMS data. NUMC has faced serious financial troubles, losing money all but one year<\/a> from 2000 to 2024, Newsday reported. It temporarily paused<\/a> most services for pregnant women earlier this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement, NUMC CEO Thomas\u00a0Stokes said the data, collected\u00a0in 2024, does not reflect the new leadership at NUMC.<\/p>\n “Since assuming leadership, our team has taken decisive steps to strengthen patient safety, quality, and operational performance across the organization \u2014 progress that will take time to be reflected in external ratings,” Stokes said in a statement.<\/p>\n