Banner Ironwood Medical Center in Queen Creek and Banner Goldfield Medical Center in Apache Junction recently received a four- and five-star rating respectively from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, according to a press release.

The Overall Hospital Quality Star rating system is used by CMS to provide patients and consumers with information to choose highly rated hospitals and providers in their area. Hospitals are rated and then receive a star rating from one to five, with five being the highest.

According to CMS, the overall star rating summarizes a variety of measures across five areas of quality into a single star rating for each hospital. Those five measure groups include:

• Mortality
• Safety of care
• Readmission
• Patient experience
• Timely and effective care

“We couldn’t be prouder of the accomplishments our team members and medical staff have earned that affirm Banner Ironwood and Banner Goldfield as the best choices for excellent and safe patient care,” stated Brian Kellar, CEO of Banner Ironwood and Banner Goldfield in the release. “I am so proud of our caring and expert teams, volunteers and physicians at these facilities for earning CMS’s highest ratings in our region.

Kellar also stated that Banner Ironwood and Banner Goldfield has both recently received an ‘A’ rating from the Leapfrog Group for patient safety.

 “Our local medical caregivers and support teams are honored to serve the people and communities around us, so earning trust by delivering exceptional outcomes in clinical quality, patient safety and value of those who choose Banner is our highest commitment,” Kellar stated.