Hospital rankings
Hospitals in Kentucky with the highest value-based purchasing score
56 Kentucky hospitals ranked by value-based purchasing score in the 2026 Medicare (CMS) data. Filter by type, ownership and size, choose the measures you care about, and sort by any column.
| # | Hospital | Value-based purchasing scorehigher is better | Overall star ratinghigher is better | Patient survey star ratinghigher is better | Heart attack death ratelower is better | Heart failure death ratelower is better | Hospital-wide readmission ratelower is better · 2025 data | Serious complicationslower is better | Time in emergency departmentlower is better | Medicare spending per patientlower is better | Total beds | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National average | 31 | 3.3 | 11.9% | 11.1% | 15.0% | 1.00 | 162 min | 1.00 | ||||
| T51 | Norton Hospitals, Inc | 16, 5th percentile | 2, 17th percentile | 3, 39th percentile | 10.6%, 87th percentile | 11.8%, 34th percentile | 16.3%, 4th percentile | 1.08, 22nd percentile | 192 min, 23rd percentile | 1.00, 44th percentile | 1,730 | Compare Norton Hospitals, Inc |
| T51 | Owensboro Health Regional Hospital | 16, 5th percentile | 2, 17th percentile | 3, 39th percentile | 12.8%, 19th percentile | 13.0%, 15th percentile | 14.6%, 74th percentile | 1.10, 19th percentile | 208 min, 15th percentile | 0.97, 61st percentile | 469 | Compare Owensboro Health Regional Hospital |
| 53 | Highlands ARH Regional Medical Center | 15, 5th percentile | 2, 17th percentile | 3, 39th percentile | 12.6%, 23rd percentile | 11.1%, 48th percentile | 15.1%, 40th percentile | 0.90, 73rd percentile | 190 min, 24th percentile | 1.05, 19th percentile | 166 | Compare Highlands ARH Regional Medical Center |
| 54 | Jennie Stuart Medical Center | 11, 1st percentile | 1, 3rd percentile | 3, 39th percentile | — | 17.5%, 0th percentile | 15.5%, 19th percentile | 0.96, 51st percentile | 167 min, 37th percentile | 1.05, 19th percentile | 194 | Compare Jennie Stuart Medical Center |
| 55 | The Medical Center (Bowling Green) | 11, 1st percentile | 2, 17th percentile | 3, 39th percentile | 12.0%, 42nd percentile | 14.3%, 6th percentile | 15.3%, 28th percentile | 1.08, 22nd percentile | 215 min, 13th percentile | 1.06, 16th percentile | 382 | Compare The Medical Center (Bowling Green) |
| 56 | University Of Louisville Hospital | 9, 1st percentile | 1, 3rd percentile | 2, 10th percentile | 12.5%, 26th percentile | 12.0%, 30th percentile | 16.4%, 3rd percentile | 0.91, 70th percentile | 198 min, 20th percentile | 1.13, 5th percentile | 404 | Compare University Of Louisville Hospital |
About these rankings
Rankings use the 2026 release of CMS Care Compare data. Hospitals share a rank (“T”) when their values are equal, and only hospitals with a reported value for the sorted measure are ranked. Shading compares each value with every hospital in the country, so it doesn’t change with your filters. Small differences are often not statistically meaningful; use the methodology and glossary for context.
- Value-based purchasing score
- Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Total Performance Score (0-100), from outcomes, safety, patient experience and efficiency. It sets a Medicare bonus or penalty..
- Overall star rating
- CMS overall hospital quality star rating (1-5).
- Patient survey star rating
- HCAHPS summary star rating (1-5).
- Heart attack death rate
- 30-day death rate for heart attack patients.
- Heart failure death rate
- 30-day death rate for heart failure patients.
- Hospital-wide readmission rate
- Rate of unplanned readmission within 30 days, all conditions. From 2025 CMS reports the Hybrid Hospital-Wide Readmission measure (claims plus EHR data), which replaced the claims-only measure; values are close but not strictly comparable across the change. CMS suppressed it for 2026.. Latest available: 2025 release.
- Serious complications
- Patient safety and adverse events composite (PSI 90; 1.0 = national value).
- Time in emergency department
- Median time patients spent in the emergency department before leaving.
- Medicare spending per patient
- Medicare spending per beneficiary episode relative to the national median (1.0 = national median).
- Total beds
- Total beds reported to CMS (Provider of Services file).