Hospital rankings
Hospitals in North Dakota with the highest value-based purchasing score
6 North Dakota hospitals ranked by value-based purchasing score in the 2026 Medicare (CMS) data. Leading: Sanford Medical Center Bismarck, Trinity Hospitals, Sanford Medical Center Fargo. 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 | ||||
| 1 | Sanford Medical Center Bismarck | 47, 91st percentile | 4, 73rd percentile | 2, 10th percentile | 10.2%, 93rd percentile | 9.5%, 79th percentile | 13.9%, 94th percentile | 1.06, 25th percentile | 180 min, 29th percentile | 0.88, 92nd percentile | 233 | Compare Sanford Medical Center Bismarck |
| 2 | Trinity Hospitals | 39, 77th percentile | 3, 43rd percentile | 2, 10th percentile | 10.2%, 93rd percentile | 10.2%, 66th percentile | 14.6%, 74th percentile | 1.03, 29th percentile | 247 min, 5th percentile | 0.93, 80th percentile | 312 | Compare Trinity Hospitals |
| 3 | Sanford Medical Center Fargo | 31, 57th percentile | 4, 73rd percentile | 3, 39th percentile | 11.3%, 68th percentile | 8.5%, 91st percentile | 14.6%, 74th percentile | 1.07, 23rd percentile | 181 min, 29th percentile | 1.04, 23rd percentile | 591 | Compare Sanford Medical Center Fargo |
| 4 | CHI St Alexius Health | 25, 34th percentile | 4, 73rd percentile | 3, 39th percentile | 11.2%, 71st percentile | 9.3%, 82nd percentile | 14.7%, 68th percentile | 1.17, 12th percentile | 176 min, 32nd percentile | 0.94, 76th percentile | 287 | Compare CHI St Alexius Health |
| 5 | Essentia Health | 24, 31st percentile | 3, 43rd percentile | 3, 39th percentile | 10.4%, 90th percentile | 10.2%, 66th percentile | 14.8%, 61st percentile | 0.77, 95th percentile | 108 min, 84th percentile | 1.02, 33rd percentile | 142 | Compare Essentia Health |
| 6 | Altru Hospital | 11, 2nd percentile | 3, 43rd percentile | 2, 10th percentile | 13.0%, 15th percentile | 12.3%, 25th percentile | 13.9%, 94th percentile | 0.91, 70th percentile | 177 min, 31st percentile | 1.02, 33rd percentile | 267 | Compare Altru 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).