LOS ANGELES — Keck Hospital of USC earned five stars, the highest rating possible, on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2026 quality star rating report. This is the third year the hospital has received five stars.
Keck Hospital is among only 29 hospitals in California – and only one of 385 nationally – to receive five stars on the one-to-five-star rating system.
"Receiving this prestigious recognition validates the hospital’s continuous commitment to patient safety and best possible outcomes, and demonstrates the dedication and hard work of our physicians, nurses and staff,” said Marty Sargeant, MBA, CEO of Keck Medical Center of USC.
The CMS hospital quality star rating summarizes a variety of measures across five areas of quality into a single star rating for each hospital. The five areas include:
- Readmission — returns to the hospital following a hospitalization.
- Mortality — death rates in the 30 days following a hospitalization.
- Safety of care — potentially preventable injury and complications due to care provided during a hospitalization.
- Timely and effective care.
- Patient experience — includes how effectively physicians and nurses communicate with patients and whether patients would recommend the hospital to others.
This CMS five-star designation follows Keck Hospital earning an "A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit focused on patient safety, in the spring of 2026. It was the 12th “A” Grade for Keck Hospital since 2019.
The CMS rating system was launched in 2016 to help patients and caregivers make informed decisions when selecting a hospital. Hospitals report quality data to the CMS through multiple reporting programs, and the data is then reviewed and standardized to calculate hospital star rankings.
For detailed information on how Keck Hospital scored on quality measures, please click here.
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For more information about Keck Medicine of USC, please visit news.KeckMedicine.org.