May 2026 to August 2026 - CMS Hospital Compare
What Changed in the Latest CMS Release
CMS replaces its file each release instead of publishing a changelog. Comparing the two releases we hold, 1,321 of 2,835 hospitals rated in both - 46.6% - moved at least one star.
- 812
- Gained a star
- 509
- Lost a star
- 347
- Newly rated
The one-line read
Between May 2026 and August 2026, 812 hospitals gained a star and 509 lost one, while 1,514 held steady; a further 347 became rated for the first time and 27 lost their rating entirely.
- 812
- gained a star
- 509
- lost a star
- 1,514
- held steady
- 46.6%
- of comparable hospitals moved
How to read this
A hospital can only be said to have gained or lost a star if CMS published a rating for it in both releases. 2,835 hospitals meet that test, and they are the denominator for every percentage here. Hospitals CMS left unrated in a release are not counted as zero, because an absent rating means reporting volumes fell below CMS thresholds, not that the hospital scored badly. Those facilities appear separately as newly rated (347) or as having lost their rating (27).
The file itself also changes shape: 22 facilities appear in the newer release that were absent from the older one, and 16 present in the older release are gone from the newer. That is ordinary turnover as hospitals open, close, merge or change Medicare certification, not a data error.
Biggest risers
The largest upward moves between the two releases. See all 812 hospitals that improved.
| Hospital | State | May 2026 | August 2026 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center | GA | 2 | 5 | +3 |
| Cascade Valley Hospital | WA | 1 | 4 | +3 |
| Erlanger Murphy Medical Center | NC | 1 | 4 | +3 |
| Adventhealth Palm Coast | FL | 3 | 5 | +2 |
| Akron General Medical Center | OH | 3 | 5 | +2 |
| Bon Secours St Marys Hospital | VA | 3 | 5 | +2 |
| CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs | IA | 3 | 5 | +2 |
| Community Hospital of Anaconda | MT | 3 | 5 | +2 |
| Conemaugh Nason Medical Center | PA | 3 | 5 | +2 |
| Dignity Health Arizona General Hospital | AZ | 3 | 5 | +2 |
| Emerson Hospital - | MA | 3 | 5 | +2 |
| Fairview Hospital | MA | 3 | 5 | +2 |
Biggest declines
The largest downward moves between the two releases. See all 509 hospitals that declined.
| Hospital | State | May 2026 | August 2026 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colusa Medical Center | CA | 4 | 1 | -3 |
| Hill Regional Hospital | TX | 4 | 1 | -3 |
| Potomac Valley Hospital | WV | 4 | 1 | -3 |
| Richland Hospital | WI | 4 | 1 | -3 |
| McPherson Hospital | KS | 5 | 2 | -3 |
| Tishomingo Health Services Inc | MS | 5 | 2 | -3 |
| Atrium Health Navicent Peach | GA | 3 | 1 | -2 |
| Cameron Regional Medical Center | MO | 3 | 1 | -2 |
| Endless Mountains Health Systems | PA | 3 | 1 | -2 |
| Holy Cross Hospital a Div of Taos Health Systems | NM | 3 | 1 | -2 |
| Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Antioch | CA | 3 | 1 | -2 |
| Mad River Community Hospital | CA | 3 | 1 | -2 |
Where these numbers come from
Each time we ingest a CMS Hospital Compare release we keep a snapshot of every facility's rating from that release. This page differences the two most recent snapshots by Medicare facility ID. CMS Hospital Compare / Care Compare is the sole source for both sides of the comparison; no figure here is estimated, and nothing is carried over from a third party. Because CMS publishes no changelog of its own, a rating move is only visible by holding the earlier file, which is why this comparison starts at May 2026 rather than at the beginning of the program.
Every figure on PlainHospital is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every figure on this page is differenced from two stored CMS release snapshots at request time. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.