Report: Five Long Island hospitals among best in nation

Huntington Hospital received a five-star rating from the U.S. Centers... — Huntington Hospital received a five-star rating from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as part of the agency's latest rankings of the top medical centers nationwide. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.

By Robert Brodskyrobert.brodsky@newsday.com @BrodskyRobertUpdated July 27, 2023

Five Long Island hospitals are ranked among the top-performing medical centers in the nation, while three others once again ranked at the bottom, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The federal agency Wednesday gave five stars, its highest rating, to three Northwell Health facilities: Huntington Hospital, John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson and North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. Top rankings also went to Catholic Health’s St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center in Roslyn and NYU Langone Health’s hospitals, which includes NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola,

Huntington, St. Francis and NYU Langone received top rankings last year from the agency, also known as CMS, while Mather and North Shore had four stars in 2022.

“Northwell Health analyzes the results of each hospital’s CMS report each year, internalizes them, course corrects where needed and strives to reach higher,” said Michael Dowling, president and chief executive of Northwell Health, the state's largest health system. “I’m proud to say this was our best showing yet as a health system.”

Nationwide, 483 hospitals, or 10.4% of all medical facilities rated by CMS, received the top rating.

"We are grateful for this recognition, which is testament to the unwavering dedication of our entire staff to providing one consistently high standard of care across all NYU Langone hospitals, which have maintained 5-star ratings for the past four years," said Steve Ritea, a spokesman for NYU Langone.

Dr. Charles Lucore, president of St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center, said the facility has also received a five star ranking from CMS in four consecutive years.

“We take great pride in providing our patients with the highest level of care possible," Lucore said. " … Our clinicians work diligently to ensure that our patients receive care that is of the best quality and safety standards.”

Four Long Island facilities received four stars — Northwell’s Glen Cove Hospital, Stony Brook University Hospital, Catholic Health’s St. Catherine Of Siena Hospital in Smithtown and St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson.

The ratings reflect the hospitals’ performance on measures including mortality, safety, hospital readmissions, timely and effective care and patient surveys from mid-2018 through 2019, and July 2020 through March 2022.

While a strong indicator of performance, health experts suggest the ratings can discount hospitals that serve older, sicker and less financially viable patients who may not be able to maintain their care after being discharged.

For the second consecutive year, the lowest ratings, one star, went to Catholic Health’s Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip; Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue, which is merging with NYU Langone; and the Nassau University Medical Center, or NUMC, in East Meadow.

NUMC, the region's only public hospital, serves many patients who lack insurance or have coverage through the Medicaid program for people with low incomes. Nationwide, 250 facilities, or 5.4% of hospitals received one-star ratings.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the status of Long Island Community Hospital's merger with NYU Langone.