Map Shows States With the Worst Hospital Ratings
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
New data has revealed the states where hospital care is the worst ranked by patients.
The study, led from the University of Utah, analyzed 3,286 hospitals across the country, using data from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, which ran from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
Patients were asked to rate ten specific aspects of their hospital stay, including how they felt about communication with doctors and nurses, how clean their rooms were, and whether they received adequate information upon discharge.
States were given an average rating on a five-point scale, with five stars being the highest possible score.
New York and South Carolina were rated the poorest—in New York, patients rated doctor communication and cleanliness a two, with all other rankings receiving a one; while South Carolina received a two on all rankings except for cleanliness, which received a one.
South Dakota was the only state to receive a five-star rating, getting fives across the board apart except for "communications about medicines" and "care transition", which were both rated at four stars.
While not displayed in the above map, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico also recieved poor rankings, particularly in critical areas such as staff responsiveness and discharge information to patients.
According to the researchers, the Midwest was the region with the most satisfied patients on average, with high scores around staff communication and hospital cleanliness in particular.
As the study was conducted on patient reviews during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions, it noted that the healthcare issues may have changed or improved in the years since. However, the findings may still guide policymakers in efforts to emulate the outcomes of the highest-performing regions.
"While one might expect no significant differences in patient satisfaction among hospitalized patients across the U.S., our findings revealed small but statistically significant regional variations," the team said in a statement.
They added that disparities between states may indicate a need for policy reform or increased investment—such as funding hospital improvements or staff training initiatives.
"These variations could also reflect unequal access to healthcare or differences in care quality among diverse populations."
Despite this, the team noted that overall satisfaction and willingness to recommend a given hospital were "consistently rated moderately high" across the U.S., but "satisfaction scores were lowest for communication about medications and discharge information."
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about health care? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
Reference
Hung, M., Vu, S., Hon, E. S., Reese, L., Gardner, J., & Lipsky, M. S. (2025). Unveiling the drivers of patient satisfaction in the United States hospitals: Assessing quality indicators across regions. PLOS ONE, 20(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324737
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