A recent article in the Arizona Republic looked at an evaluation of 56 hospitals in the state that were part of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS, or Medicare) “Star” quality ratings released in March 2019, among them Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and Banner – UMC South.
Medicare gives a rating to certified U.S. hospitals based on up to 57 quality measures, with one Star being the worst and five Stars the best. Click here for Tucson facilities, or scroll down to see data on Tucson and Banner acute care hospitals listed. Evaluations for more than 4,000 facilities are at the link above.
Only four Arizona hospitals received a 5-Star rating: Verde Valley Medical Center, Flagstaff Medical Center, Mayo Clinic Hospital (Scottsdale), and Scottsdale Thompson Peak Medical Center.
Fourteen received 4-Star ratings. Twenty received 3-Star ratings. Sixteen received 2-Star ratings. And two received a 1-Star rating. Twenty-one hospitals also are listed that did not have a Star rating as their numbers were too small or not available.
Of Banner’s facilities listed in the newspaper report, five had a 4-Star rating, two had 3-Star ratings and four had 2-Star ratings. Banner – UMC Tucson, Banner – UMC South and Banner – UMC Phoenix each had 2-Star ratings.
Of facilities in the Tucson area, only two scored higher than BUMCT or BUMCS. Oro Valley Hospital had a 4-Star rating and Tucson Medical Center had a 3-Star rating.
For the full article (co-authored by former Arizona Daily Star health reporter Stephanie Innes, now at the Republic), see: “Which Arizona hospitals ranked the worst? 'Star' quality ratings of 56 hospitals released” | Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com, Posted March 25, 2019
For more information, see the CMS Guide to Choosing a Hospital (released December 2017).
Star Ratings
The following information is what is listed in the Arizona Republic analysis of the CMS data. The newspaper also included for these hospitals the cost of hip and knee replacement, which is part of the publicly available data, but not factored into Medicare’s ratings. It was included because it’s an elective procedure, meaning patients can choose where they have it done.
TUCSON RATED ACUTE CARE HOSPITALS (highest to lowest):
Hospital name: Oro Valley Hospital
Address: 1551 East Tangerine Road, Oro Valley AZ 85755
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 4
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 58
Emergency department volume: Medium
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 30
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): No different
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 69
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $18,414.00
Hospital name: Tucson Medical Center
Address: 5301 East Grant Road, Tucson AZ 85712
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 3
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 36
Emergency department volume: Very high
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 39
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 93
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $18,934.00
Hospital name: Banner – University Medical Center Tucson
Address: 1501 N. Campbell Avenue, Tucson AZ 85724
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 2
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 34
Emergency department volume: Very high
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 16
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 97
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $19,496.00
Hospital name: Banner – University Medical Center South 
Address: 2800 East Ajo Way, Tucson AZ 85713
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 2
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 34
Emergency department volume: High
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 18
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 97
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: N/A
Hospital name: Northwest Medical Center
Address: 6200 North La Cholla Boulevard, Tucson AZ 85741
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 2
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 69
Emergency department volume: High
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 25
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): No different
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 73
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $19,558.00
Hospital name: St. Mary's Hospital
Address: 1601 West St Mary's Road, Tucson AZ 85745
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 2
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 55
Emergency department volume: Low
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 28
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): No different
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 98
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $24,843.00
Hospital name: St Joseph's Hospital
Address: 350 North Wilmot Road, Tucson AZ 85711
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 2
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 39
Emergency department volume: Low
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 36
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 96
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $21,117.00
OTHER BANNER FACILITIES RATED (highest to lowest):
Hospital name: Banner Baywood Medical Center
Address: 6644 East Baywood Avenue, Mesa AZ 85206
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 4
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 35
Emergency department volume: Very high
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 41
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 96
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $21,605.00
Hospital name: Banner Boswell Medical Center
Address: 10401 West Thunderbird Boulevard, Sun City AZ 85351
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 4
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 48
Emergency department volume: High
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 21
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 97
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $18,837.00
Hospital name: Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center
Address: 14502 West Meeker Boulevard, Sun City West AZ 85375
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 4
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 42
Emergency department volume: Very high
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 18
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 95
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $18,592.00
Hospital name: Banner Estrella Medical Center
Address: 9201 West Thomas Road, Phoenix AZ 85037
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 4
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 44
Emergency department volume: Very high
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 46
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 96
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $19,066.00
Hospital name: Banner Goldfield Medical Center
Address: 2050 West Southern Avenue, Apache Junction AZ 85120
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 4
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 47
Emergency department volume: Low
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 12
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Not available
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 93
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: N/A
Hospital name: Banner Casa Grande Medical Center
Address: 1800 East Florence Boulevard, Casa Grande AZ 85122
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 3
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 40
Emergency department volume: High
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 21
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 96
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $21,849.00
Hospital name: Banner Gateway Medical Center
Address: 1900 North Higley Road, Gilbert AZ 85234
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 3
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 46
Emergency department volume: High
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 36
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 96
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $20,712.00
Hospital name: Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix
Address: 1111 East McDowell Road, Phoenix AZ 85006
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 2
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 32
Emergency department volume: Very high
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 40
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 97
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $19,703.00
Hospital name: Banner Desert Medical Center
Address: 1400 South Dobson Road, Mesa AZ 85202
Star rating (1-lowest, 5-highest): 2
Received appropriate care for severe sepsis & septic shock (%): 20
Emergency department volume: Very high
Median time spent in ED before seeing a health care professional (minutes): 28
Clostridium difficile intestinal infections (compared to national average): Better
Health care workers given the flu vaccine (%): 97
Payment for hip/knee replacement patients: $20,235.00